Archive for August, 2009

When a person tries to picture Mount Vernon the first vision that comes to mind is the famous cupola.  It has presided over the Estate and Gardens, watching the comings and goings of the young and old, powerful and meek, and famous and common for over 220 years.  It is an American icon.  Why did George Washington construct it?  Was it mere decoration?  Perhaps, but the General hardly ever did anything without some reason.  The cupola was part of a building project begun in 1776 but not completed until after the Revolution.  The General may have added it for purely aesthetic reasons—with the two added extensions to the north and south his home would look too elongated.  The cupola would provide a strong vertical to the horizontal vision.  Maybe he wanted to draw attention away for the asymmetry of the west front.  This asymmetry is due to the stairway in the main hall which made windows and doors a little awry in a non-Neoclassical way.  Another answer could be for comfort.  During the heat of the humid Virginia summers (and before air-conditioning) the cupola ventilated the upper story by drawing out the hot air as it rose through the mansion—pulling in cooler air from the windows below.  My favorite explanation comes from the book George Washington’s Mount Vernon by Robert F. Dalzell, Jr. & Lee Baldwin Dalzell, “The cupola . . . was unfashionable but also intriguingly evocative; for all the houses with cupolas that Washington knew, the most familiar one, unquestionably, was the Governor’s Palace . . .  and finding himself in conflict with the authority that structure represented, what could have been more logical than to appropriate its details for his own use?  A single imperial source of power was unacceptable in America; a cupola was simply a bit of decoration anyone could have if they wanted one.  To be sure, none of this may have been on Washington’s mind, but he was a person who hardly ever acted without reflection.  He also had a superb feel for gesture (pg. 99).”  Whatever the reason for the cupola it has always been eye-catching.  In a letter dated March 2, 1778 Washington’s friend, Bryan Fairfax wrote, “I like the House because it is uncommon.” 
Teachers who attend the George Washington Summer Institutes are privileged to climb the ladder into the cupola.  The ladder resembles a permanent, solidly built, attic ladder.  Since the advent of air-conditioning, the windows are no longer open and it is HOT up top!  A person in the cupola must perch themselves on a two-foot ledge that encircles the outer walls (I am approximating the depth of the ledge—it might be wider but it seems to be only about one foot when you are up there!).  Although one might be experiencing a little vertigo, it is worth it!  The view is spectacular.  Included in this article are several pictures from the cupola—and trying to take a photo of myself in the sweltering, confined area does not make for the best picture—but one can certainly get a sense of what it is like from the top!

NOTE:  Although I have written in the Blog previously about my favorite weather vane that crowns the cupola, for those of you who are new to this Blog, here is the story.  In July of 1787 Washington ordered a “weather vane for the cupola, giving its maker, Joseph Rakestraw, detailed instruction: ‘On top of an iron spire was to be a bird—its wings spread, and in its mouth an olive branch.’   Rakestraw interpreted this to be ‘The dove of peace’.  Returning home from the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, Washington peered from the west gate to see if Rakestraw had correctly read his meaning . . . And there was the proof, flying above the cupola—that bold assertion of Washington’s personal freedom.  Peace and independence: that was the message with which Mount Vernon, at last, was to be crowned (Dalzell, p. 123).”

In the summer of 2008 I had the honor of spending considerable time at Mount Vernon.  No matter how many times I walked the grounds of the estate, I was always awed that I was strolling where Washington had trod.  It was on those quiet paths around the red-roofed house that I felt closest to the General.  Ambling into his upper garden one day, I stumbled on a beehive of activity—A team of archeologists were digging a pit in one of the flower plots.  Why were they excavating this parcel of earth?  As I studied the vegetation surrounding me, I suddenly saw shrubs that looked like they were wasting away. Was this the way it looked during Washington’s time?  No way would our first President (an innovative farmer) have allowed his “terra firma” to look like this! As I questioned Mount Vernon’s Director of Archaeology, Esther White, about the excavation she explained how the grand old boxwoods were dying.  Although some see this as a sad event, those who love to burrow for artifacts saw this as an opportunity to verify what really was in Mount Vernon’s garden during Washington’s lifetime.  Apparently the original garden “included far more vegetables, fruit trees, and nut trees, and considerably fewer ornamental flowers.  A number of blooming bushes were also present (Mount Vernon Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Vol. XXIII, Number 1, Spring 2009).” 
This summer I went back to the garden in the early morn.  One gardener was quietly preparing for the day so I had the opportunity to meander through the pathways in silent solitude.  Most of the boxwoods were no longer in evidence but the profusion of colors from the blossoms was a delight to behold.  Sauntering along I took numerous photographs while communing with the lovely grounds.  It was easy to imagine gentle footsteps behind me . . . Was Martha in the garden?  Did I catch a glimpse of the General over in the corner eyeing his people’s labors?  Was Nelly hiding behind some bushes?  Although it was all just fantasy, it was a lovely daydream.  Soon I heard more voices as visitors began traipsing into the enclosed gardens.  My reverie was over, but for that brief moment I felt a special kinship with Washington and his family.  Isn’t that why thousands make pilgrimages to Mount Vernon?  To understand the man and the seeds that he planted for his home and the nation. 

Last week I was “back in the saddle again” traveling to Colbert and Silo, Oklahoma.  These friendly towns are almost within “spittin’ distance” of the Red River (between Oklahoma and Texas).  At the conclusion of the workshop for the entire Colbert faculty, the local Methodist Church provided a delicious lunch—Yum! Yum!  Next, I was directed through some back roads to Silo Schools for my next presentation.  As I was sitting up my equipment in their library, their helpful media specialist visited with me.  She was just getting ready to hang their “George Washington Porthole Portrait.” The Mount Vernon Ladies Association gives schools these beautiful FREE paintings of our first president.  Check the Mount Vernon Website for the information on how your school can acquire one of the artworks.

The Porthole Portrait is one of seventy-nine Washington portrayals created by Rembrandt Peale.  He was the son of Charles Wilson Peale, a famous American artist who also painted the General.  Rembrandt painted sixteen earlier versions of George Washington, but he stated his motivation for the first porthole was, “No human being could have felt more devoted admiration of the character of Washington and no Artist ever found his pride more strongly excited by the magnitude and interest of his purpose than mine to rescue from oblivion the aspect of a Man who would forever be venerated as the ‘Father of his Country’ (Howard, p. 223).”  Peale shut himself inside his so-called “Painting Room”   to create an image that would inspire his countrymen.  He studied his former renderings of the president as well as his father’s and Trumbull’s works, but he relied most on Houdon’s 1785 bust—”everyone agreed that was the best likeness” (Howard, p. 223).  Rembrandt spent weeks and months in a “Poetic Frenzy” working on the painting.  “He painted what appears to be a massive marble frame, decorated with a wreath-like oval of carved oak leaves, topped with a keystone bearing the face of Jupiter.  Although the words Patriae Pater (father of our country) appeared to be carved into the windowsill, the canvas was soon given a simpler name.  It became the ‘Porthole Portrait’ (Howard, p. 225).” 

The people of Philadelphia flocked to see this new image of the president (who had been gone for almost twenty-five years).  “Major Lawrence Lewis, the General’s nephew and husband of Nelly Custis, wrote to Peale, ‘It is the only portrait of my uncle I ever wish to look at a second time; but on this I could gaze continually.’  Upon seeing the likeness, Lafayette exclaimed, ‘Gentlemen, this is the Washington I knew!’ (Howard, p. 226).”  For the rest of his life, Peale’s principal mission was to “acquaint the younger generations with George Washington.” Rembrandt Peale continued to create images of Washington.  He painted his 79th version of his Porthole Painting when he was eighty-two, the last year of his life (Howard, p. 228).  When I viewed the Porthole Artwork in the Silo library I thought of the words of Rembrandt’s father upon first viewing the painting, “You have it now—-this is indeed Washington.” 

*Most of the information came from a wonderful book by Hugh Howard, The Painter’s Chair.