Edwin Howland Blashfield

Edwin Blashfield (1848–1936) was an American painter and muralist, most known for painting the murals on the dome of the Library of Congress Main Reading Room in Washington, DC. Born in New York in 1848, he detoured from his plan to enter Harvard and instead moved to Paris, intending to study under Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Unable to gain immediate admission because of his minimal training, Blashfield worked under Bonnat. During this formative period, he was also inspired by the painters William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Puvis de Chavannes.