Landing of Columbus

Landing of Columbus
Artist	John Vanderlyn
Year	1847
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	365.7 cm× 548.6 cm(144.0 in× 216.0 in)
Location	Capitol Rotunda, Washington

Landing of Columbus is a c.1847 history painting by the American artist John Vanderlyn. It portrays the moment on October 12, 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed during his First voyage on the island of San Salvador. Columbus is shown amidst the sailors under his command, tilting his face upwards in prayer while clutching Royal Standard of Spain in one hand. ^{[1] [2]}

The painting was commissioned for the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C. An earlier group of four paintings featuring scenes from the American Revolution were produced by John Trumbull. A second group was commissioned from the late 1830s to include earlier scenes from American history. ^[3]

Vanderlyn had spent his early career in Paris and had enjoyed success with his The Death of Jane McCrea . ^[4]

References

1. Groseclose p.190
2. https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/landing-columbus
3. Groseclose p.190
4. Boime p.26-27

Bibliography

• Boime, Albert. A Social History of Modern Art, Volume 2: Art in an Age of Bonapartism, 1800-1815. University of Chicago Press, 1993.
• Fryd, Vivien Green. Art & Empire: The Politics of Ethnicity in the United States Capitol, 1815-1860. Ohio University Press, 2001.
• Groseclose, Barbara S. Nineteenth-century American Art. Oxford University Press, 2000.