Telling me the painting is set in Washington D.C. and the year is 1798 won't cut it.:)Update: Shhhhhh! I know this is Wordless Wednesday, but the Education Carnival is in town. Hurry on over to The Median Sib before the lines get too long.
Update 12-20-06: The explanation for this week's Wordless Wednesday is posted here.
17 comments:
My only guess is that it's Pierre L'Enfant with his plans for the design of Washington, D.C. Isn't that the year he got the job?
No, not Pierre L'Enfant though it does involve construction in D.C.
Here's another hint.....this painting had a dual purpose.
I don't know about the dual purpose, but it looks like the beginnings of the White House to me, the cornerstone having been laid in October 1792.
Oh, on second thought, maybe the painting was commissioned to raise funds to complete the building project.
they didn't have cranes back their to move things around, so they had to rely on divine providence and clouds for moving large buildings. here pictured is the capitol building (which was mail ordered from a building supply house in paris) being delivered and lowered into place.
It might be James Hoban the architect of the President's or Executive Mansion. (He also designed the Octagon House which was to become a temporary home for the Madison's after the burning of the Executive Mansion by the British in 1814. The reconstruction of the Executive Mansion demanded that the outside walls be whitewashed in order to cover up the char stains.)
Although George Washington oversaw the planning and construction of the new Federal City, he did not live long enough to see the completion of the President's house. (He wouldn't have been President either; Adams was the first to occupy the house.)
Officially, the home wasn't called the White House until the administration of Theodore Rossevelt.
And I doubt any of them would have been wearing their Continental Army uniforms!
A.M. Whittaker
This painting is new to me, very interesting. Thanks for sharing, I am looking forward to reading your answer.
Jenny in Ca
Hi,
Thanks for stopping by my Sunflower and supporting me! Have a nice week!
Sunflower
Interesting WW! Looking forward to answer.
Thanks for guessing. This painting was done many years after 1798 and was used for two purposes none of which had anything to do with the building of the structure.
This is an example of early propaganda, and the cloud is meant to convey ominous vibes or inspiration as the case may be. Oh, I know I'm wrong...it must be something way too complicated for my brain to handle with the Christmas buzz...yes, that's the ticket. I'll blame my feeble answer on Christmas overwhelm.
So far uisce and kuanyin have the most creative answers.
A.M. Whittaker, I'm not sure if those are meant to be continental uniforms.....
Im not sure but I absolutely would love to hear the answer! you have piqued my curiousity...I will be back, printing out the photo for my children!
This is a reproduction of a painting N.C. Wyeth created in 1930 for a patriotic poster for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The painting depicted President Washington and architect James Hoban inspecting the uncompleted White House in 1798.
And it was used as the Nixon’s official 1971 Christmas card.
(At least you left bread crumbs for me to follow this time.) I was already pretty sure it was a N.C. Wyeth painting. ;)
I hope you hurry up and divulge the details. The suspense is killing me!
Thanks Firefly!
The official White House website has the information:
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs/04_b_1792.html
A.M.
Great picture. Until I read the info on your latest post, I was going to ask if the portrait depicted the White House on fire? Hasn't it suffered a fire at least once? The clouds fooled me. To me they look not like clouds just rolling by in the sky, but smoke clouds from fire. Plus all the debris in the front of the White House made me think that some sort of disaster had happened.
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