United States Senate Reception Room


The United States Senate Reception Room is located in the United States Capitol and is one of the Capitol's most richly decorated public rooms that features the work of Italian artist Constantino Brumidi. The room, numbered S-213, has historically been used for meetings and ceremonies. These decorations feature nine permanent portraits of the greatest Senators as determined by a Senate committee. These portraits are placed in massive and ornate golden frames.

Senator portraits

In 1957, a Senate Committee headed by then Senator John F. Kennedy was tasked to decide on the five greatest U.S. Senators of all time so their portraits could decorate the Senate Reception Room. John C. Calhoun and the two others from the "Great Triumvirate" of Congressional leaders, Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, were included as well as Robert A. Taft and Robert M. La Follette Sr.. In 2004, Arthur H. Vandenberg and Robert F. Wagner were added. In 2006, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth both from Connecticut were added, changing the group's informal name to become the "famous nine".