Originally John White Alexander of Pittsburgh was commissioned to paint the murals for the Capitol's north hyphen lunettes, opposite those of William Van Ingen. However, Alexander said that he was both too busy and too ill at the time to accept the commission.

The lunettes in the north hyphen were actually left undecorated until artist Vincent Maragliotti was offered the commission in 1970. Completed in 1973, Maragliotti chose to depict scenes of Pennsylvania's commercial and transportation history with the murals – the original theme designated by architect Joseph Huston.

A native of Italy, Maragliotti emigrated to the United States at age seventeen. He studied architecture and fine arts at the National Academy of Design and the Cooper Union Art College in New York. He later relocated to Pennsylvania after receiving his first commission for the Commonwealth to paint the ceiling murals in the main entrance lobby of the Education Building, which was completed in 1934. He purchased property in New Buffalo, Perry County and later moved to Summerdale to be closer to Harrisburg.

Maragliotti continued his work within the Capitol Complex, receiving a commission to produce ceiling murals for the main entrance lobby of the Finance Building from 1938-1939. In 1964 he completed a massive mural for the William Penn Memorial Building. Although untitled, this work was based on the theme "William Penn's vision of a free society and what came out of it." This massive mural, which has a frescoed quality to it, was installed in six separate sections on the second floor of the Pennsylvania State Museum. The total cost of the painting was more than $115,000.

Maragliotti was also noted for his decorative work in hotels and theaters throughout the east coast. He painted murals in the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, the Waldorf-Astoria and Biltmore Hotels, and the Strand, Roxy, Majestic, and Shubert theaters in New York City.