Artist: Frederick Kemmelmeyer
Date: 1805
Size: 83 x 105 cm
Technique: Oil On Canvas
Seven light-skinned men stand closely together at the edge of a body of water across from a group of about a dozen indigenous people with brown skin gathered in the near distance in this horizontal painting. To our left, five of the white men wear tall black hats with blue and pink feathers. In shades of royal blue, parchment white, pine green, or brick red, their caped suits have slashes across the chest, shoulders, and upper thighs. Some hold or wear swords, and most have knee-high, olive-green boots. At the back of the group, a hatless, balding man wears a long brown robe with a rosary and cross hanging from his waist. He holds a tall wooden cross, and the others carry spear-like halberds, a rifle, or a white banner. The man at the front of the group holds a sword down by one side and gestures toward the group of brown-skinned people with his other hand. Two rowboats filled with similarly dressed men approach their position on the left side. Three wooden ships lie in the water beyond the men. The indigenous men, women, and children wear off-white or red loincloths, along with earrings, necklaces, armbands, and anklets. Many have feathers in their dark hair. One person at the front of that group kneels and points toward the water with one hand as he holds out a pineapple with the other. The two groups are separated by a jewel-blue waterway that runs between them. More beach and hazy blue mountains in the deep distance curve toward the center of the composition. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left, though the inscription is now incomplete. It reads, “eyer Pin t th January 180.” In the lower right, and inscription reads, “First Landing of C.R COLUMBUS at the Island St SALVADOR South AMERICA the 11th October.”
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