As he lectures the Director of the CIA Office of Security on the hidden secrets of the U.S. Capitol, Langdon gives a lesson in philology and art history. He defines “apotheosis” as—‘divine transformation’—that of man becoming God” and then gestures to its representation in the fresco on the ceiling of the Rotunda, The Apotheosis of George Washington (84). Langdon continues with a verbal description and interpretation that can hardly do justice to this 1865 masterpiece by Constantino Brumidi. The finest single source of information on the life and works of the artist with spectacular graphics was done by Barbara Wolanin, Curator of the Capitol, available at the link at the end of this chapter. In what maybe the most fortuitous of coincidences, William Henry and Mark Gray published in 2009 Freedom’s Gate: The Lost Symbols in the U.S. Capitol, the CD version of which contains breathtaking-high-quality color photographs for closer examination.
Brumidi (1805-1880) was born and trained in Rome and had painted in the Vatican and Roman palaces before he came to the United States in 1852. He died in Washington, D.C. Brumidi is credited with several works in the Capitol, but his masterpiece is undoubtedly The Apotheosis. In the central group of the fresco, George Washington is rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory or Fame. They in turn are surrounded by thirteen maidens, who represent the original thirteen states. In the original drawings for the painting, there were thirty-three maidens. In the second sketch there were now thirteen maidens but thirty-three stars. The painting, according to Henry and Gray, is replete with Masonic and alchemical imagery.
A key to the painting is the word “apotheosis” (
) which for the ancient Greeks means “to deify,” to raise a person to the rank of a god, or the exaltation of a subject to the level of the divine. The concept of “Transformation” is key to the novel and to the Masonic legend that foresees the enlightenment of the individual and ultimately his acceptance of the death of the material body, but life for the spirit. The deification of Washington had begun in an earlier painting by John James Barralat, The Apotheosis of George Washington, in 1802. Here Washington is raised from the tomb, escorted by angels. The theme of Apotheosis had also been applied in The Aptheosis [sic TRB] of the Spanish Monarchy, dating to 1762-1770, by Giovanni Tiepolo. In 1841 an enormous twelve-ton sculpture of Washington sitting on a throne like Jupiter had been placed in the Rotunda. The sculpture was the creation of Horatio Greenough (who attended Phillips Academy which competes with Phillips Exeter, and later studied at Harvard and in Rome). Brown mentions the statue that had displeased some because of the depiction of the bare-chested Washington, and it was moved two years later to another section of the Capitol. Eventually it made its way to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where it can still be viewed today. Like Director Sato, you can “Google” the phrase “George Washington Zeus,” if you wish a sneak peek and history lesson.
The very concept that man can become a god is a central tenet of Deist thought. Deists believe in a Supreme Being, but assume that He is no longer involved with His creation. The new American Republic and its first leader are shown a pathway to the heavens rising from the center of the nation’s Capitol and of its capital city through the Dome above the Rotunda. Washington and we are to arise again and ascend in imitation of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Ironically, George Washington, who in his life shunned attempts to be made king and turned down a third term in the office of the presidency, would likely have been embarrassed by such glorification and deification after his death.
The fresco itself is 180 feet from the floor and is 4,664 square feet. The figures are as large as 15 feet and can be easily seen from those standing on the Rotunda floor gazing up. Those who have visited the Sistine Chapel in Rome and admired the paintings on its ceiling will easily understand why Brumidi is known affectionately as the “Leonardo da Vinci of the Capitol.” But the painting owes no less a debt to the work of Raphael, especially his The Disputation of the Sacrament (Disputa) in the Vatican Palace. (Readers might recall that Raphael’s Tomb in Rome’s Pantheon is the starting point for Langdon’s adventures in Angels & Demons.) The Apotheosis itself, along with other works by Brumidi including the spectacular Brumidi Corridors on the Senate Side of the Capitol, give ample evidence of such influence.
Langdon describes the elements of the painting that he sees as key: gods and goddesses of antiquity participating in American history. The goddess Minerva appears with Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, and Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph and who studied religious philosophy at Yale. Neptune, god of the sea, helps lay the Transatlantic cable begun in 1857 for telegraph communication. Ceres, goddess of agriculture, sits atop the mechanical reaper invented by Cyrus McCormick in 1831 (the wheel of which is said to resemble a Templar Cross). Other scenes not mentioned in the novel include Mercury, god of commerce, Vulcan, outlined against a steam engine, and Freedom trampling tyrants.
The Apotheosis of Washington
Brumidi would also do much of the work on the Senate Reception Room, now used as the Vice President’s Office, because the Vice President of the United States also serves as the President of the U.S. Senate. Brumidi would speak affectionately of his new homeland in America: “My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.” He was just one of the immigrants who made up the fabric of the United States of America and reflects the motto that Langdon recalls in the painting at the end of the novel. The Latin phrase found in the banner held high opposite the figure of Washington reads: “E PLURIBUS UNUM” (Out of many, one) (504).
BARBARA WOLANIN, CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI ARTIST OF THE CAPITOL
www.gpo.gov/congress/senate/brumidi
OVERVIEW OF THE APOTHEOSIS
www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/apotheosis/Overview.cfm
