like anyultivated gentleman of his time, thomas jefferson had a special admiration for raphael. jefferson was in the avant-garde in forming taste for classil architecture and art in america. raphael stood athe summit of that tradition. while serving as minister to france, jefferson purchased art for his collection. included were two copies after raphael. one is now lost, but the other, a copy after a holy family, is still at monticello. a copy adequately represented raphael s style. it also stood as an example of jefferson s taste. but his contemporaries believed that the united states should first develop in a practic direction. benjamin franklin claimed, for example, thatthe invention of a machine is of more importance than a masterpiece by raphael. john adams said, the age of painting and sculpture has not arrived in this country, and i hope it will not arrive soon. i would not give a sixpence for a picture of raphael. nevertheless, admiration for the artist became so g
j. carter brown: for over 3,300 years, the pharaoh tutankhamun has gazed serenely at eternity, confident in his ability to conquer death. everlasting life was his by right of birth. he was pharaoh, king of egypt, the mightiest empire of the ancient world. he was a god. nothing was beyond his means. when tutankhamun sat upon his throne, thousands of years of history and achievement had already preceded him. surely a nation that could bring itself into being and create wonders like the great pyramids could overcome man s final enemy death. and overcome death tutankhamun has at least according to the ancient egyptian funerary beliefs, for the very act of speaking his name provides magic to infuse tutankhamun with everlasting life. names were important to the egyptians. a name symbolized one s personality and even one s very existence. to remember the dead was to make them live again. and soutankhamun must, for the whole world has known his name ever since that day in november of
j. carter brown: for over 3,300 years, the pharaoh tutankhamun has gazed serenely at eternity, confident in his ability to conquer death. everlasting life was his by right of birth. he was pharaoh, king of egypt, the mightiest empire of the ancient world. he was a god. nothing was beyond his means. when tutankhamun sat upon his throne, thousands of years of history and achievement had already preceded him. surely a nation that could bring itself into being and create wonders like the great pyramids could overcome man s final enemy death. and overcome death tutankhamun has at least according to the ancient egyptian funerary beliefs, for the very act of speaking his name provides magic to infuse tutankhamun with everlasting life. names were important to the egyptians. a name symbolized one s personality and even one s very existence. to remember the dead was to make them live again. and so tutankhamun must, for the whole world has known his name ever since that day in november
( music ) narrator: thomas moran embarked on his first trip to the west in 1871. the united states at the time was still recovering from the ravages of the civil war. americans turned with hope to the western frontier. by painting the pristine grandeur of these remote places, moran enabled 19th-century americans to visualize a magnificent landscape most would never see. his paintings transformed their perceptions of the west. from 1867 to 1879, the united states government sponsored four western expeditions, now known as the great surveys. of all the aists who accompanied them, none is more associated with the surveys than thomas moran. the watercolors he brought back from wyoming, the first color images of yellowstone, played a key role in the creation of the national parks system. yellowstone had long been familiar to american indians, mountainmen, traders and travelers. legendary, seemingly unbelievable stories made their way east. the canyon was said to be a fearful
narrator: an impressive letter to a young painter and from the distinguished sir joshua reynolds. could he be right? ( harpsichord continues ) john singleton copley loved his country, but he wanted the richer artistic influences of the old world. besides, talk of revolution was everywhere. political contests, he felt, were neither pleasing to an artist nor advantageous to art itself. in 1774, copley left; it would make him a better painter, he thought. sad for him, sad for america: he never returned to his home. at 34, john singleton copley was already one of the best and most popular painters in the american colonies. the young american artist john trumbull said of him, an elegant-looking man dressed in fine maroon cloth with gold buttons, this dazzling to my unpracticed eye, but his painting, the first i d ever seen deserving the name, riveted absorbed my attention and renewed my desires to enter upon such a pursuit. copley had more work than he could do. early in his car