Caleb's Crossing ... "Harvard's native son"

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Image used with the written permission of the artist, Stephen Coit.  All rights reserved.
	"Caleb's Crossing"

 

 

Mr Stephen Coit, the artist who produced the portrait above, also emailed ...

"Here are some notes on the painting that you might find interesting:

-- For Caleb's face, I used images of the earliest photographs I could find -- well over 100 years old -- of young men Caleb's age who were members of the Wampanoag Aquinnah on the Vineyard.  These would have been taken before intermarriage happened with any frequency with other groups.  While I was visiting their headquarters in Martha's Vineyard, the tribe elders uncovered and gave me permission to use these images for this project.  There are no extant images of Caleb's actual appearance anywhere that I could find at Harvard or anywhere else.

-- I planned for this to appear as if Caleb's portrait had been commissioned the year of his graduation, 1665.  In that era, many early colonial era leaders likely went to Europe to have portraits done, and they were often painted in a Dutch style after Rembrandt.  See John Eliot's portrait painted in 1659, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eliot_(missionary).)  Note that Rembrandt died four years after Caleb graduated.

-- Seeking a Dutch painter of that era to inspire Caleb's portrait, I noticed that Girl with Pearl Earring by Vermeer was done the same year as Caleb's graduation, 1665. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_with_a_Pearl_Earring)  Because I love Vermeer and his work, I chose to portray Caleb's drawing on the style of Vermeer, specifically using the light, setting and composition of Vermeer's, The Milkmaid.  The table, the book, the Turkish tapestry over the table in the portrait all confirm to Dutch portraiture conventions.

-- The bag on the wall is a portrayal of "Caleb's bag" in Harvard's Peabody Museum (https://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/495.)

-- The map on the wall, again drawing on the style of Vermeer, is a map of Martha's Vineyard from the late 1600's showing the region on that island where Caleb was from.  

-- Caleb's dress, his hair style and his collar were as accurate for that era as I could determine.  

-- The room is plausibly a room in the Indian College at Harvard with morning light coming in to Harvard Yard from the southeast.  I wondered whether the leaded window panes would be rectangular or diamond shaped; an architectural historian assured me they could have been either.

-- The one element that would not have been a Dutch convention was the quill in Caleb's hand.  For Caleb's quill, honoring his history and tradition, he and I chose a turkey quill."

 

My sincere thanks to Mr Coit for permission to use the above image.

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This post came together for me as there is a nurse theory group:

https://nursology.net/

Their online meetings begin as follows:

1. Introductions of Members

1. Pronouns and Land Acknowledgement.
   If you are unfamiliar what land you are on, please check the following link https://native-land.ca/

For e.g.

"Guest on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people, specifically the Nisqually and Squaxin Island peoples."

Living in England and a 'Jones' I mentioned a Celtic heritage (assumed - I should add) and awareness of Welsh valley flooding to create reservoirs (and in England - in the Lake District).

https://www.lake-vyrnwy.com/history.html

 

As for all at present, continuing to sort papers I came across the above newspaper cutting from 2011:

 

Dunn, P. Harvard's native son, The (Sunday?) Times, 16 April, 2011, p.11.

 

Book cover source: https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-us