Design for a Temporary Senate Chamber, by George Bridport, 1809

Because its chamber was being rebuilt the Senate met in the summer of 1809 in a temporary chamber designed by a Philadelphia architect and decorative painter, George Bridport. Although cheaply built with light frame walls covered with canvas, the room was elegantly painted with classical moldings, fasces, and laurel wreaths. The temporary chamber was constructed in the center of a larger two-story room designed for the Library of Congress in the north wing.

Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress