Máh-to-tóh-pa,+Four+Bears,+Second+Chief,+in+Full+Dress

Date: 1832
 * [[image:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.128_1a.jpg&max=460 width="313" height="379" link="@http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=4064"]] || Title: **Máh-to-tóh-pa, Four Bears, Second Chief, in Full Dress**

Artist: **George Catlin** Born: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 1796 Died: Jersey City, New Jersey 1872

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Accession: 1985.66.128 || George Catlin described Four Bears as being “in undress, being in mourning, with a few locks of hair cut off, his hair put up in plaits or slabs, with glue and red paint, a custom of the tribe. The scars on his breast, arms, and legs show that he has several times in his life submitted to the propitiatory tortures represented in four paintings.” Four Bears had earned the right to wear his horned headdress and his fabled shirt, but even in “undress” he was a hero of the highest order, straight out of the Roman Republic: “His breasts have been bared and scarred in defence of his country, and his brows crowned with honours that elevate him conspicuous above all of his nation.” Four Bears also carries scars from his successful completion of the O-kee-pa, an important Mandan ritual performed annually to initiate the most promising young men of the tribe. Catlin painted this portrait at a Mandan village in 1832. (Catlin, //Letters and Notes//, vol. 1, no. 21, 1841, reprint 1973, and 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)
 * Exhibition Label: **


 * Suggested Questions: **
 * What do you see in this picture? Ask students for visual observations as evidence for any interpretive comments. As students point out different symbols and elements in the picture, you can explain their significance.
 * If students are having trouble coming up with responses, these questions may help start the conversation:If you were going to have your portrait painted, what symbols would you include?
 * Who do you think this person is?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What is he wearing? What else is included in the picture?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Where is he posed for this picture?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Catlin Classroom <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Signs and Symbols Guide <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Map of George Catlin's Route Artist George Catlin: Painter Of American Indian Portraits - Wisconsin Public Radio
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Related Resources: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Artist Biography <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">SAAM Collections Page
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Links: **