Constantino Brumidi

Master of Miniatures, Malthy Hethelrius, Dane.

Famous Frescoes in National Capital by Brumidi, Italian.

Illustrator of Folktales and Fairy Stories, Willy Pogany, Hungarian.

Journalistic Cartoons by Harrison Fisher, Czech.

It's an utterly unlikely union.

[gentle music] America's Cincinnatus, George Washington, and America's Michelangelo, painter Constantino Brumidi, never met.

Washington was born in 1732, third generation Virginian.

Brumidi was born in Rome in 1805 and emigrated to America in 1849, becoming a naturalized citizen soon after.

So remember, Nehemiah says, remember, Lord, what you have promised.

This past week, Joan and I were in the Capitol building and learned about Constantino Brumidi, who painted the inside of the rotunda.

And partway through his painting job, the chair that he was on slipped, and he began to fall to his death.

But he caught the rung of a ladder 58 feet up and waited there 15 minutes until he was rescued.