“Watching her, marveling at her,” Mr. Schumer said, “was one of my proudest moments ever of my time in office.”
But he said Ms. Pelosi had impressed him well before that.
“From the start, it was obvious: This new member had it all,” Mr. Schumer said. “She knew the issues, she knew the politics, and most importantly, she knew what she was fighting for.”
Ms. Pelosi’s portrait, painted by the artist Ronald Sherr, was completed in 2014 and has been in storage ever since. In the painting, Ms. Pelosi is pictured dressed in a maroon suit with a heavy string of pearls, holding the speaker’s gavel, her eyes focused on something out of sight but ahead of her.
Mr. Sherr died last week.
The walls of the speaker’s lobby — a long, carpeted corridor outside the House chamber where members gather between votes — feature the portraits of more than 20 former speakers, with several more hanging in the halls around the Capitol. The tradition of hanging portraits dates back to 1852, with the donation of a portrait of Henry Clay, who served as House speaker three times, from the artist Giuseppe Fagnani. The House began mandating oil paintings of the speakers in 1910.
The portrait unveiling ceremony capped what has become an extended consideration and celebration of Ms. Pelosi’s legacy since she announced last month on the House floor that she would step down from leadership but remain in Congress.
On Tuesday night, a documentary by her daughter, the filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, was released on HBO, offering a sympathetic behind-the-scenes look at the Democratic Party’s most dominant political operator of the past two decades. The film included intimate scenes of the always-coiffed Ms. Pelosi relentlessly working the phone while making her bed, dressed in pajamas, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of her whipping votes for the Affordable Care Act.
Ms. Pelosi appeared moved by the outpouring on Wednesday. Of the tribute from Mr. Boehner, who is known to choke up publicly in big moments, she joked, “I would have been a little disappointed if he didn’t get emotional.”
Annie Karni
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