![]() ![]() Engravings of this later painting have appeared on the reverses of several U. In the later work, Weir made changes in light and details and achieved greater focus on the three central figures by giving them fuller faces and broader shoulders. In 1857, Weir painted a smaller version of Embarkation of the Pilgrims, which is now in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He spent much of his career as an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was appointed Instructor of Drawing in 1834 and promoted to Professor in 1846 after forty-two years at the Academy, he retired in 1876 and set up a studio in New York City. He was a largely self-taught artist who had some formal instruction but developed his skills through first copying pictures and later traveling to Europe to study the art of Florence and Rome. Robert Walter Weir was born in New York City on June 18, 1803. All of the Rotunda paintings were most recently cleaned in 2008. The painting has since undergone periodic cleaning and restoration, including relining and varnishing. The War Department detailed Weir from West Point to make the needed repairs. In November 1860, the painting was damaged by a falling beam during the construction of the new dome, scraping the painting and causing a hole near the foot of Miles Standish. The painting has undergone various cleaning, repair, and restoration treatments. The painting then traveled to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia and was hung in the U.S. The painting was completed in July 1843 and was first seen by the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where Weir was an instructor. The armor and costumes Weir collected in Europe were sources for the garments worn by those depicted. Weir's depiction of the event was drawn from Nathaniel Morton's New-England's Memorial of 1669 and, perhaps, Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana. While Morse did not receive a commission, Weir out of respect chose instead to the paint the embarkation from Delfts Haven. Morse, who also sought a commission for one the Rotunda paintings. ![]() However, the same subject was proposed by artist and inventor Samuel F. Initially, Weir had intended to paint a scene depicting the Mayflower Compact. In the background on the right are the city and people the Pilgrims leave, and on the left a rainbow represents the hope and promise of what lies ahead.Įmbarkation of the Pilgrims is Robert Weir's most famous work. ![]() The armor, helmet, and musket in the foreground represent the tools that the Pilgrims will use for protection in the new and unfamiliar land. ![]() Some are dressed in traditional puritan attire while others wear more fanciful and bright garments. Gathered around them are the men, women, and children going on the voyage. The figures at the center of the composition are William Brewster, holding the Bible Governor Carver, kneeling with head bowed and hat in hand and pastor John Robinson, with extended arms, looking Heavenward. The group appears solemn and contemplative of what they are about to undertake as they pray for divine protection through their voyage the words "God with us" appear on the sail in the upper left corner. Five months later the Pilgrims settled the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. After leaks forced the Speedwell to make additional stops in Dartmouth and then Plymouth, its passengers boarded the Mayflower. They first sailed to Southampton, England, to join the Mayflower, which was also making the voyage. This painting depicts the Pilgrims on the deck of the ship Speedwell on July 22, 1620, before they departed from Delfs Haven, Holland, for North America, where they sought religious freedom. ![]()
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