WEBVTT - Some title

00:00.000 --> 00:00.000


00:03.100 --> 00:06.100
The paintings here are inspired by great literature.

00:06.100 --> 00:10.400
At the top, the lone Indian figure, by Emanuel Leutze,

00:10.400 --> 00:13.900
recalls a popular 19th-century story: James

00:13.900 --> 00:16.900
Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tale, "Last of

00:16.900 --> 00:21.000
the Mohicans." Christian Schussele’s work, hanging below

00:21.000 --> 00:25.000
that, drew on Cooper's "The Deerslayer." 

00:26.000 --> 00:30.300
The Death of Minnehaha to the right is by William de Leftwich

00:30.300 --> 00:35.400
Dodge. Its massive dimensions—seven by ten feet—are worthy

00:35.400 --> 00:38.000
of the epic poem by Longfellow on which it's based.

00:39.700 --> 00:43.100
Painted when the artist was just 19, it portrays the

00:43.100 --> 00:46.200
moment when Hiawatha rushes into the wigwam and

00:46.200 --> 00:50.000
finds his wife dead. That excerpt of the poem hangs

00:50.000 --> 00:53.500
in a frame to the right of the painting. Artist Kim

00:53.500 --> 00:57.000
Wiggins: "I remember the very first time I saw it, years

00:57.000 --> 01:01.500
ago, it just left me spellbound. You stand in front

01:01.500 --> 01:04.300
of the image in your heart just absolutely breaks,

01:04.300 --> 01:07.800
as this man is weeping over the death of his loved

01:07.800 --> 01:12.100
one." Notice the two haunting apparitions (representing

01:12.100 --> 01:16.000
fever and famine) rising up in the smoke, arms outstretched,

01:16.000 --> 01:20.700
ready to receive Minnehaha's spirit. This painting

01:20.700 --> 01:24.000
was the first triumph for Dodge, who went on to enjoy

01:24.000 --> 01:27.500
great success as a muralist. You can see his work

01:27.500 --> 01:29.200
adorning the dome of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.