Elijah Cummings' official portrait to be unveiled at Capitol complex on Wednesday

BALTIMORE -- A portrait of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings is scheduled to be unveiled at the Capitol complex Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the late lawmaker's wife, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

Cummings represented Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019, rising to the rank of chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

His official portrait, painted by Baltimore artist Jerrell Gibbs, will hang in the committee's hearing room inside the Rayburn House Office Building, according to a news release.

Among the guests scheduled to attend an unveiling ceremony Wednesday  at 5 p.m.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), a Baltimore native; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD); current 7th district Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D); former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah); Rockeymoore Cummings; and Gibbs.

Gibbs' painting depicts Cummings in a blue suit holding a gavel in both his hands, inspired by the Justin T. Gellerson photograph on the cover of Cummings' autobiography, "We're Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy."

The portrait was previously on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Rockeymoore Cummings said in a statement she partnered with the museum's director at the time, Christopher Bedford, and other curators to commission the work.

"We are exceedingly pleased with the result. Jerrell Gibbs is a masterfully expressive painter and his stunning portrait perfectly captures Elijah's essence and majesty," she said.

The son of sharecroppers, Cummings grew up in Baltimore during the 1950s and attended City College, Howard University and the University of Maryland School of Law. 

After 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates representing Baltimore City, from 1983 to 1996, Cummings won a special election to represent Maryland's 7th congressional district, a seat previously held by Mfume, who left to become president and CEO of the NAACP.