21 Days and 21 Years

Hey there folks,

We've had some goings on recently. Last week, I came back from spring break. Unlike last year, I did not go to Europe. Though I was at home, I did have some great times.

On the first night back, my parents took me to a great sushi place in town. Though we have some good sushi at school, there's nothing like getting it fresh from one of the best places around. The next day, my parents threw me a little family birthday party. I don't turn 21 until March 24th, so I guess you could call it my 20 days til' 21 party! My aunts and uncles came over and we celebrated with some pizza and an awesome birthday cake: a banana split blizzard cake from Dairy Queen! It was as delicious as it sounded. We have eight family members whose birthday is in March, including my dad's on March 4th, so we celebrated theirs too.




On Wednesday, Brian and I took a little pilgrimage down to New York City for the Big East Tournament. I arose early from my vacation slumber and drove about an hour and a half to Stamford, CT to catch the Metro-North train to Grand Central. I met Brian down at Madison Square Garden and we enjoyed two games: Georgetown vs. South Florida and Marquette vs. St. John's. They were pretty good games and the place wasn't packed so we were able to sneak down. For dinner, we met up with Conor and went to a Scottish pub a few blocks away. Once I got back to Stamford, it was still a long ride back. It turned out to be a pretty late night overall.



Last week, I made it back to The Hill and was immediately swamped with work. Last weekend however, my parents came up and took me out for dinner. We went to my favorite restaurant, The Village Smokehouse in Brookline. They have been voted the best ribs in Boston. So, of course, I had to get my favorite meal there: Texas-sized pork ribs with some sweet potato fries. I finished every last one!


We then took a walk up Harvard Street in Brookline before stopping at J.P. Licks. It's a really good ice cream place. During the summer months, they have cucumber ice cream. It may sound weird, but it's delicious! We made a pit stop on the way home for some tea at Barnes and Noble.

Most of my friends were out for the night, so I hung around with my parents a little more. They had brought up some baby photos and my baby book to reminisce. In the baby book there was a page full of my "favorites" when I was young (Favorite toys, favorite songs, and the like).


And I quote: "Favorite food - all"


Some things don't change...

Professor Gorman's Art History Lesson (Part 3 of 3)

Hey there folks,

This will be the last little lesson into the art history of the Capitol Rotunda and the works of John Trumbull today. Today we tackle a really interesting painting: George Washington Resigning His Military Commission.

For starters, Congress commissioned Trumbull to paint this scene about eighteen years after the event actually took place and reports were relatively sketchy as to what went on and who was actually there. Washington had just recently died so Trumbull really had no idea what the scene even looked like. Therefore, he improvised. Look below, you won't see too many famous faces. That's because Trumbull just painted random people. Most of them don't have any historical relevance and are simply put there to fill the space. One person who you may recognize is Thomas Jefferson. There is no proof that he was there for this. But as you remember from a few posts past, Trumbull and him became fast friends. Maybe Trumbull was looking to influence history slightly?

Speaking of filler, Trumbull ran into a similar problem while painting the spectators. Washington didn't have much of a family and again, a long time had passed. This is where he got creative. Look closely at the people around Washington. First look at the women off Washington's shoulder. These are Washington's step-daughter and step-grandaughter Eleanor and Martha. Trumbull--again needing bodies--decided to duplicate them throughout the scene through different ages and placements. Let me put into perspective:

Trumbull simply duplicated them around the painting, namely as little children and as ladies watching from the balcony.

Next, how many George Washington's are there in this painting? Seem obvious? It actually isn't. There's really 6 depictions of him. When it came to the men surrounding Washington, Trumbull had pretty simple inspiration. He portrayed Washington throughout the stages of his life. Take a look:

Red: we have Washington normally depicted on the day.

Purple: Washington, slightly younger, as a general of the Continental Army

Green: A noticeably younger and red-headed Washington as a Colonel during the French and Indian War

Yellow: An extremely young Washington, probably a depiction of what he would look like when he enlisted in the British Army

Orange: Washington the father, a depiction of an older Washington, in civilian clothes

Blue: Washington as chief magistrate, in the black robe and thought to be a type of elder statesman

Now by this time, Trumbull had become quite well-known for his works: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence et al. However, Congress also got wise to Trumbull's mini self-portraits within his work. Therefore, they gave him an ultimatum: either omit depicting himself into the painting or lose his contract with the government. This gave Trumbull a little dilemma. Should he paint himself in and risk losing the contract or acquiesce and risk losing credit.

So what did Trumbull do? He painted himself in, but with a catch...Can you spot him??

Trumbull dressed in drag! Here he is, fourth from the edge in the balcony next to Martha

Washington, disguised as a woman. Surprisingly, the Congress never found out until much later.

Well, that about does it for the semester. I hoped you enjoyed learning this useless knowledge as much as I have enjoyed dispensing it. Next time you hear from me, I'll tell you a little about my birthday celebration and some Stonehill happenings.

Class dismissed!

Professor Gorman's Art History Lesson Part 2

Hey again folks,

Welcome back to class. We're in the middle of a three-part series on a little art history of John Trumbull's paintings in the Capitol Rotunda. Today we're going to look at "The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis."

Let's put to use what we learned on the last post and see if we can find our boy Trumbull?

Can you spot him this time?

There he is again! This time he is fourth from the flag and, as always, looking away from the center of attention.

Now let's look at the painting...

This painting depicts General Cornwallis and the British Army surrendering to George Washington and the Continental Army, thereby ending the war. Traditionally in battle, the defeated army would stand on even ground with the conquerors and hand-over their sword to them. Makes sense, right?

Except when the time came to surrender to the colonies, the leader of the British Army, General Cornwallis was nowhere to be found. It turns out he sent his deputy to do it for him and Washington was so disgusted by this lack of protocol that he sent his deputy on Washington's personal white horse to accept the sword. Washington then told him not to get off his horse. This way, the British would have to present it up to the Americans, signifying homage to a mightier power.

As you can see Washington looking on from the background...

Now something that struck me when I first saw the painting: who are those guys with the white flag? Naturally, I first thought that those were the British waving the flag of surrender, but actually those are the French! The white flag with a ribbon/scarf tied around it was flag of the French monarchy.

Alright, short post today but we'll end our semester with "George Washington Resigning his Commission."

Until next time, class dismissed!

Professor Gorman's Art History Lesson (Part 1)

Hey folks,

After seeing the congressman I interned for taking on Obama during last week's Health Care Summit and my overall pining for D.C., I've decided to reminisce a little and give my long-awaited lecture on some history of the art adorning the Capitol rotunda.

Around the rotunda are large oil paintings depicting different important events in the founding of our country. They are: the landing of Columbus, discovery of the Mississippi River, the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, the baptism of Pocahontas (she actually appears in the rotunda three times), the Declaration of Independence, the surrender of General Burgoyne, the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and George Washington resigning his military commission.

Four of them: Burgoyne's surrender, Cornwallis' surrender, the Declaration of Independence, and Washington resigning his commission were painted by the famed John Trumbull. In these next few posts, I'm going to give some fun history on the paintings as well as explain the story behind them.

Now unfortunately for Trumbull, since he was commissioned to paint these for the federal government he was not allowed to sign them. However, Trumbull found ways around that...he would paint himself into the scene! He had a rule though: he was either be fourth from the edge or fourth from the American flag AND he was always looking away from the center of attention.

Let's start off easy...can you find Trumbull in "The Surrender of General Burgoyne"?

Did you see him?

There is he is! On the horse, looking away, fourth from the left!


Alright, that was a warm-up. Let's get to our first topic..."The Declaration of Independence!"

Do you see Trumbull in the photo? He is fourth from the left edge, looking away from the others.

Most people have probably seen this photo at some point, it is the most famous of the brood. It depicts Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Roger Sherman, et al. presenting the Declaration of Independence to the President of the Continental Congress John Hancock. First things first, let get some history out of the way...

...this picture is completely and utterly false. This never happened! There was no grand ceremony, no large signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was actually signed in secret, one by one, at secret locations. Think of it like trying to pass a note in middle school. Remember, the men who signed it were thought of as traitors, if the Brits got their mitts on this it would basically act as a list of the leaders of the revolution.

Which brings us to the Founding Fathers. Some of you history buffs out there may know that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams weren't too fond of each other. They both were intensely competitive and intensely jealous of one another. They would make penny bets on everything from who could quote longer passages from the Bible to who would become President first...they even made a bet on who would die first. This is where it gets eerie. They died on the same day...July 4th, 1826. Exactly 50 years to the day that they signed the Declaration of Independence! As Adams lay dying, thinking his nemesis would outlive him, said his last words, "Jefferson lives." Unbeknown to Adams, Jefferson had actually died earlier in the day.

Anyways, when Trumbull was painting this both were still alive and Jefferson offered the artist a place to stay while he finished the painting. They became fast friends and Jefferson reportedly asked Trumbull a favor while he painted: made him look better than Adams. Trumbull acquiesced and what we have is two very distinct figures. Take a look...

Look at the contrasts! Jefferson is portrayed tall and regal, standing straight. He is a wearing a bright orange vest with a navy overcoat. He is also standing in the position of power, with both hands on the document.


Take a look at Adams on the far left, he is pudgy and ashed-faced. He is wearing drab clothing and is standing off to the side, hand on his hip--almost an afterthought.


But he's the kicker (no pun intended). Look at their feet...





Jefferson's right foot is clearly stepping on Adams--a sign of dominance. There's no mistaking who Trumbull wanted to portray as the most powerful man in the painting. Sometime I guess it makes sense to make friends with those depicting you...


Anyways, this is the first in a three part series over the next week or so on the rotunda art history and the little tidbits in the painting of John Trumbull. That's it for this week, guys.


Class dismissed!