Tropical Paradise
On this week in 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de León landed in Florida and claimed it for Spain.
More than three hundred years later, Thomas Moran sought to record Florida's natural beauty and bounty. Fort George Island, located twenty-five miles north of Jacksonville at the mouth of the Saint John River, is part of the Sea Islands, a chain of low coastal islands stretching from South Carolina to Florida. In March 1877 Moran sketched extensively at Fort George Island and later produced several paintings on this subject in 1878 and 1879.
In this work Moran maps the island's interesting geography, showing the intersections of its beach, salt meadow, and wooded plateau. While the landscape on left appears wild and untouched, the figures gathered around the shipwreck on the beach, perhaps unloading a stranded cargo, remind the viewer the island is inhabited.
Pictured: Thomas Moran, 1837 England–1926 USA, Fort George Island, Florida, 1878, oil, 9 x 12 1/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Neil M. Judd.
On this week in 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de León landed in Florida and claimed it for Spain.
More than three hundred years later, Thomas Moran sought to record Florida's natural beauty and bounty. Fort George Island, located twenty-five miles north of Jacksonville at the mouth of the Saint John River, is part of the Sea Islands, a chain of low coastal islands stretching from South Carolina to Florida. In March 1877 Moran sketched extensively at Fort George Island and later produced several paintings on this subject in 1878 and 1879.