Dome Mural in U.S. Capitol

Inside the Rotunda dome at our nation's capital is a mural. The Architect of the Capital describes it this way:

Constantino Brumidi
Fresco
1865
Rotunda

Brumidi depicted George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame. A rainbow arches at his feet, and thirteen maidens symbolizing the original states flank the three central figures. (The word "apotheosis" in the title means literally the raising of a person to the rank of a god, or the glorification of a person as an ideal; George Washington was honored as a national icon in the nineteenth century.