Archbishop James Frederick Wood
Archbishop James Frederick Wood
Artist
Thomas Eakins
(1844 - 1916)
Date1877
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions82 1/4 × 60 in. (208.9 × 152.4 cm)
Framed: 98 in. × 76 in. × 6 3/4 in.
Framed: 98 in. × 76 in. × 6 3/4 in.
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2015.1
Signedl.r.: Eakins / 77
Accession number
2015.1
On View
On viewLabel TextArchbishop Wood served as a leader of the Catholic Church from 1860 to his death in 1883. He impressed Thomas Eakins as a man of great learning whose character and faith had produced tangible contributions in Philadelphia. While Eakins was not especially religious and belonged to no church, he painted 14 portraits of Catholic clergymen (Wood was the first). Eakins lends an air of mystery to the portrait by positioning Wood as a solitary figure in a dark interior, perhaps reflecting his own uncertainty about organized religion.
El Arzobispo Wood dirigió la iglesia católica desde el 1860 hasta su muerte en el año 1883. Causó gran impresión en Thomas Eakins por ser un hombre de gran conocimiento, cuyo carácter y fe produjeron contribuciones concretas en Filadelfia. A pesar de que Eakins no era un hombre devoto, y no pertenecía a ninguna religión, pintó catorce retratos de clérigos católicos, de los cuales Wood fue el primero. Eakins añade un aire misterioso al retrato al colocar a Wood como una figura solitaria en un lugar oscuro, quizás reflejando sus propias dudas sobre la religión organizada.
