Chas Fagan

Transcription

We're standing in the Becoming Americans Gallery of The Story of Virginia, and if you scan these two walls you'll see a number of items that pertain to the life of George Washington. Washington was of course America's first president, he was commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and he was the presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia. Here's how Washington appeared, as he was painted by Charles Peale Polk in the 1790s, and here's how he would've appeared in his military uniform during the American Revolution. I want you to contrast the image that Polk creates here with some of the images that Gerome Ferris paints in these history paintings over here. Ferris's paintings are called "history paintings." History paintings are imagined scenes of a historical event, and they usually are painted to convey a moral or a lesson. Let's take a look at a couple of these images and see if we can identify the moral or lesson that Ferris is trying to convey. This first image is called "Washington Silver Anniversary, 1784" and it depicts an event that occurred a year after the signing of the Peace of Paris, which ended the American Revolution. If you look at this, it looks like nothing more than an elegant party, but notice what the artist does through a process called "triangulation." If you look at the painting, he has created a triangle, the apex of which is this woman, right on the steps here, and notice how the lines point to her up on the steps. The other two points of that triangle are of course Washington over here, and the Continental officer over here. And if you look at the people in that triangle, what are they doing? Well they're all gravitating toward Washington. Even this beautiful woman over here, who seems to have the attention of the Continental officer, is in fact moving toward Washington, and I think you can see that in the painting. So what is Ferris trying to tell us? I think he is trying to tell us that Washington's greatness lay not in his military achievements, but his willingness to surrender his commission to the Continental Congress, to retire from the army and to return to Mount Vernon and take up civilian life. To most Europeans, this was inconceivable. When King George III heard of Washington's intentions, he reportedly said: "If Washington voluntarily relinquishes his authority, he will be the greatest man in the world." This painting is called "Washington's Inauguration at Independence Hall, 1793" and this of course was in Philadelphia, and you'll notice the triangle in this image as well, with Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is Vice President, Thomas Jefferson is Secretary of State, and if you look at the image and see what the triangle and see what the artist is trying to convey, notice how Adams and Jefferson are standing almost in opposition to each other. These men had very different political views. They would come into conflict later on because of those political views, but they're not quite in opposition here. They're both turning toward Washington, and I think what Ferris is trying to convey is that Washington, through his prestige, through his character, through the power of his leadership, is to be able to keep these two men, who are political opponents, from being in opposition.