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''The Treaty of Penn with the Indians'', sometimes known as ''Penn's Treaty with the Indians at Shackamaxon'' or more simply ''Penn's Treaty with the Indians'', is an oil painting by Benjamin West, completed in 1771-2. The painting depicts William Penn entering into peace treaty in 1683 with Tamanend, a chief of the Lenape ("Delaware Indians") Turtle Clan, under the shade of an elm tree near the village of Shackamaxon (now Kensington) in Pennsylvania. Although the Delaware tribe challenged the Walking Purchase of 1737, which some historians have speculated was fraudulently created by William Penn's son, Thomas Penn, the peace between the Lenape Turtle Clan and Penn's successors would endure almost a century, until the Penn's Creek Massacre of 1755.〔(Penn Treaty Museum )〕 The treaty William Penn entered into was remarked upon by Voltaire, who called it "... the only treaty never sworn to and never broken." ' ==Painting== The painting was commissioned by Thomas Penn - William Penn's son - in 1770 or 1771 and completed in 1771-2. West was a local artist who was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania and grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Like Thomas Penn, West was born into a Quaker family. Also like Thomas Penn, he later turned to the Church of England, however. He studied in Philadelphia but developed as a painter of historic subjects in London, where he was the second president of the Royal Academy of Arts. His reputation for history painting was established in the early 1770s with his painting of ''The Death of General Wolfe''. For the image of William Penn, West copied a relief portrait made from memory by Silvanius Bevan several years after Penn's death. West had no models for the Indian subjects, so used sketches of sculptures, adding Indian artefacts, such as beaded moccasins, arm bands, and bags, and clay pipes. The crowd is gathered around a white cloth which draws the eye at the centre of the composition, like a campfire or the Christ child at the centre of a nativity scene. The painting presents an idealised picture of interaction between the Indians and the Europeans, glossing over recent difficulties such as the Walking Purchase in 1737 and the treaty with the Six Nations in 1744, but harking back instead to Penn's wish for peace. The muscular Indians are dressed and decorated in green, red and white, with feather headdresses, partly shaved heads, beaded armbands and headbands, and large earrings. They lean forward, keen to see what they are being offered. Original items of clothing that were used as a model for portraying Native Americans in the painting can be found in the British Museum's collection (as well as additional indigenous artefacts used in other paintings by West).〔British Museum Collection ()〕 The Europeans are shown in more sombre clothing typical of 1771, in shades of browns and greys, rather than the more decorated styles of 1682; Penn is picked out by his white neckcloth. The Europeans stand back, reversing their contemporary keenness to acquire land from the Indians. The crowd includes West's own father (the elderly gentleman with white hair, third to left of Penn) and his half brother Thomas West (behind Penn). West also added brick-built buildings from his own memories of Pennsylvania, even though they had not been built by 1682. The canvas measures high by wide. The painting was purchased at auction by Joseph Harrison and brought to Philadelphia. On Harrison's death, it was given to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the United States National Museum of Independence. It has been exhibited at the Pennsylvania State Museum. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Penn's Treaty with the Indians」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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