The Capitol is more than a building. It's a showcase for
American ideals. B. Henry Latrobe commissioned a figure of
Liberty and a magnificent clock for the House Chamber, and
Justice, a relief in the Supreme Court. For the Senate, Latrobe
designed a gallery supported by statues representing the
states—though these were never made. Charles Bulfinch's rotunda
featured sculpture and paintings of European explorers, Indians,
and settlers. Luigi Persico sculpted an allegory entitled Genius
of America for the pediment over the east portico, and symbolic
figures of War and Peace for niches flanking the rotunda
entrance. In 1817, Congress commissioned John Trumbull to paint
four Revolutionary War scenes for the rotunda. Twenty years
later, four other artists began filling the remaining spaces
with scenes of America's settlement by Europeans.