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Meeting House Hill

Collection Type

  • Art

Date

1799

GUSN

GUSN-17065

Description

Framed oil painting of Meeting House Hill, Roxbury, about 1790. Copy by Samuel Curtis (signed and dated, 1799) of an original by John Ritto Penniman of Roxbury. "It was taken from the residence of Deacon Moses Davis on Washington Street, which constitutes the foreground, and exhibits the church and the hill with the houses at that time (1790) on it." --quote copied from document in file. Molded gilt frame.

Details

Descriptive Terms

landscapes (representations)
paintings (visual works)
oil paint (paint)
canvas
Oil on Canvas
Painting

Label

Used in Cherished Possessions 2003-2005: This quintessential New England scene depicts Meeting House Hill in Roxbury, Massachusetts, a town founded in 1630 that is situated just outside Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the small neck of land that connected the city to the mainland. This made Roxbury strategically important during the Continental army's siege of Boston, which the British occupied following the outbreak of war. The Patriot army encamped on Meeting House Hill, controlling land access to the city and preventing supplies from crossing Boston neck. When this painting was completed in 1799, the patriots' defensive earthworks were still standing and are visible to the right of the church steeple and along the horizon on the far left.

People and Organizations

Meetinghouse Hill

Maker

Curtis, Samuel, 1785-1876 (Artist)

Dimensions

28.5 (W) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of Miss Mary E. Haven

Accession Number

1918.764

Places

Massachusetts (United States)
Roxbury (Boston, Suffolk county, Massachusetts) [neighborhood]

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