Lot 4004: Constantino Brumidi Portrait of George Washington oil painting

Constantino Brumidi
1805-1880
A Portrait of George Washington
inscribed on the right of the top tacking edge: Brumidi
oil on canvas
Painted Oval: 37 1/4 x 30 1/4 inches ( 94.6 x 76.8 cm )
Provenance:
Private Collection, Diamond Bar, California, to the present owner, by descent through the family of James Ware Bradbury (1802-1901), United States Senator from Maine, 1847-1853.
Note:
In 1856 the Italian born immigrant Constantino Brumidi was commissioned to decorate a new portion of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. His work can be found throughout the interiors of the Rotunda, Senate Reception Room, various committee rooms and, for what is now called, the Brumidi Corridor.According to the present owner's family lore, Brumidi set up shop in the Rotunda and sold portraits of Washington and other historical figures to the Congressmen as they were passing through the building.