page_title: Robert Walter Weir
section_title: Works
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Walter Weir / Works
caption_attribution_description: Protestant pilgrims are shown on the deck of the ship Speedwell before their departure for the New World from Delft Haven, Holland, on July 22, 1620. William Brewster, holding the Bible, and pastor John Robinson leading Governor Carver, William Bradford, Miles Standish, and their families in prayer. The prominence of women and children suggests the importance of the family in the community. At the left side of the painting is a rainbow, which symbolizes hope and divine protection.Weir (1803–1890) had studied art in Italy and taught art at the military academy at West Point. The dimensions of this oil painting on canvas are 548 cm x 365 cm (216 inches x 144 inches; 18 feet x 12 feet)
context_page_description: Robert Walter Weir was an American artist and educator and is considered a painter of the Hudson River School. Weir was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1829 and was an instructor at the United States Military Academy. His best-known work is Embarkation of the Pilgrims in the United States Capitol rotunda at Washington, D.C. More than 450 of his works are known, and he created many unsigned paintings that may never be attributed to him.
context_section_description: Weir was considered part of the Hudson River school of American art. One of his best known paintings is The Embarkation of the Pilgrims which hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda. He was commissioned by the United States Congress in 1837 and the painting was placed in the rotunda in December 1843. His canvases deal principally with historical subjects, though he also did several portraits.
caption: Embarkation of the Pilgrims (commissioned 1837; placed 1844), oil on canvas, 12 x 18 feet, United States Capitol Rotunda, Washington, DC
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