Torre di Schiavi

Thomas Hiram Hotchkiss, Torre di Schiavi, 1865, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.52
Thomas Hiram Hotchkiss, Torre di Schiavi, 1865, oil on canvas, 22 3⁄8 x 34 5⁄8 in. (56.9 x 88.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.52
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Torre di Schiavi
Artist
Date
1865
Location
Dimensions
22 3⁄8 x 34 5⁄8 in. (56.9 x 88.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure
  • Landscape — Italy
  • Landscape — mountain — Appenine Mountains
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — tower
  • Architecture Exterior — ruins
  • Architecture Exterior — civic — Torre di Schiavi
Object Number
1977.52
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.52

Artwork Description

The landscape where this herdsman sleeps recalls a distant time and place. Thomas Hotchkiss heightened the mystery of this ancient site by including a mosaic of a winged boy on a dolphin from a recently excavated Roman bath as well as a skull and bones in the shadows at the far left. The Torre di Schiavi, or Tower of Slaves, was a popular subject for American artists visiting Italy. The site was associated with an uprising of Roman slaves, an event that would have been particularly meaningful for Americans in 1865, when the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (3 items)

John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, Adam and Eve Leave Eden, 1973, model airplane enamel on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.107
Adam and Eve Leave Eden
Artist
Date1973
model airplane enamel on fiberboard
On view
John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, The Elephant Who Was Fond of Watermelon, 1970s, enamel on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of David L. Davies, 1992.37.5
The Elephant Who Was Fond of Watermelon
Artist
Date1970s
enamel on masonite
Not on view
John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, Acupuncture Pitchfork Style, ca. 1974, model airplane enamel on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.12
Acupuncture Pitchfork Style
Artist
Dateca. 1974
model airplane enamel on wood
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

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Howard Finster, THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN, 1976, enamel on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.6
THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN
Artist
Date1976
enamel on fiberboard
On view
Howard Finster, Bible Flying (#1805), 1980, enamel on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.16
Bible Flying (#1805)
Artist
Date1980
enamel on wood
On view
Howard Finster, THER SHALL BE EARTH qUAKES, 1976, enamel on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.8
THER SHALL BE EARTH qUAKES
Artist
Date1976
enamel on fiberboard
On view
Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., Portrait of Hermine Katz, Atlantic City, 1949, enamel paint on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.19
Portrait of Hermine Katz, Atlantic City
Artist
Date1949
enamel paint on board
Not on view