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The Capitol- John Steuart Curry's “Tragic Prelude ”
Centered
on the north wall of the east wing is the gigantic figure of John Brown. In his outstretched
left hand is the word of God, and in his right hand a "Beecher Bible" (better know
as a rifle). Flanking him, facing each other, are contending free soil and proslavery forces,
and at their feet, two figures symbolic of the 1.5 million Civil War dead and wounded. In the
background are the pioneers with their wagons on the endless trek to the west and the tornado
and the raging prairie fire, fitting symbols of the destruction of the Civil War. This mural
(31 feet by 11.5 feet) expresses the fratricidal fury that first flamed on the plains of Kansas,
and served as the prelude to the Civil War.
One of the more famous reproductions of this mural is located at Harper's Ferry in West Virginia.
John Steuart Curry's dramatic painting "Tragic Prelude " is quite famous and often reproduced.
Capitol Building
John Steuart Curry’s "Tragic Prelude"