Columbus+before+the+Queen

Date: 1841
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1976/1976.119_1a.jpg?itok=0C2cXJ5c width="265" height="332" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/columbus-before-the-queen-21368"]] || Title: **Columbus before the Queen**

Artist: **Peter Frederick Rotherme**l Born: Nescopeck, Pennsylvania 1812 Died: Linfield, Pennsylvania 1895

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 62 3/8 x 50 in. (158.4 x 127.0 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Museum purchase

Accession: 1976.119 || Columbus believed he could chart a better trade route to Asia by sailing West. He petitioned Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain for funds, offering them land acquistions and easier access to trade goods in return.
 * Exhibition Label: **

The Philadelphia native Peter Frederick Rothermel painted this serene image of Christopher Columbus before Queen Isabella of Spain for the 350th anniversary of Columbus’ first journey across the Atlantic. Rothermel’s first grand history painting, Columbus Before the Queen, captures mid-nineteenth-century Americans’ romantic view of Columbus using a simple design and a few figures. Rothermel’s conception of the explorer is supported by the popular literary account of Columbus’ life, The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, penned by Washington Irving in 1828. One of the books at Columbus’ feet is inscribed “Marco Polo,” an explorer that Irving cites as an influence on Columbus.

The painting’s calm, spiritual quality finds its precedent in Irving’s words that Isabella “was filled with a pious zeal at the idea of effecting such a great work of salvation” and that Columbus held, “a deep religious sentiment.” The religious aspect of Columbus’ mission is reinforced by the cathedral-like setting.

The Queen's clasped hands, so close to her necklace, remind viewers of Isabella's concrete contribution to the journey. They reference the legend that she offered her jewelry to finance Columbus' journey to Americas and fufill the Spanish monarchy's goal of increasing land acquistions.


 * Suggested Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What is going on in this picture?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How does the artist tell the story? What clues does he give us about who people are, how they are feeling, and what is happening?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What is the mood of the picture-- How does it make you feel?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Rothermel Packet <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Rothermel Painting Grand
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Resources: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; line-height: 1.5;">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: **