The Art Collection

Architect of the Capitol employees are responsible for the care and preservation of more than 300 works of art, architectural elements, landscape features and more.

Browse our pieces below or learn more about the artists, collections and subjects.

Innocent III, Relief Portrait

Innocent III (1161-1216) Medieval pope. Student of canon and civil law, who, like Gregory IX, preserved the remnants of Roman law during the Dark Ages.

Jean Baptiste Colbert, Relief Portrait

Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) French finance minister and controller general under Louis XIV. Codified commercial, maritime, and colonial ordinances; reformed the French legal system.

John Cabot Relief Sculpture

Above four of the large Rotunda paintings in the U.S.

Justinian I (c. 483-565) Byzantine emperor. Appointed Tribonian to compile and consolidate the Roman legal code into the Justinian Code, which he supplemented with a collection of rulings and precedents.

Landing of the Pilgrims, 1620, Relief Sculpture

Above each of the four Rotunda doors in the U.S.

Lycurgus, Relief Portrait

Lycurgus (c. 900 B.C.) Semimythical Greek legislator. Traditional author of laws and institution of Sparta.

Maimonides, Relief Portrait

Maimonides (1135-1204) Jewish philosopher of Cordova, Spain. Compiled a systematic exposition of the whole of Jewish law as contained in the Pentateuch and in Talmudic literature.

Moses, Relief Portrait

Moses (c. 1350-1250 B.C.) Hebrew prophet and lawgiver. Transformed a wandering people into a nation; received the Ten Commandments.

Napoleon I, Relief Portrait

Napoleon I (1769-1821) Emperor of France. Appointed a commission to draw up the Code Civil, a combination of tradition and Roman law that influenced the legal systems of European and American states during the 19th century.