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State House Caucus Room

The Landing of the Maryland Colonists from the Ark & the Dove, St. Clement’s Island, March 25, 1634  

Artist: Peter Egeli, c. 1975
Medium: Oil on canvas
On loan to the state from the Steuart Investment Company

landing of the maryland colonists from the ark and the dove

This painting depicts an incident, reported by Father Andrew White, which occurred soon after the colonists arrived at St. Clement’s Island on the Potomac River. A small boat had been sent ashore, with some women to wash clothes. At the shore the boat capsized and many of the precious linens were lost. Men on the stern of the Ark can be seen pointing to the shore, where the bottom of the overturned boat is barely visible. People are trying to recover the lost goods. The Dove is being hailed to help while the Ark’s longboat has been launched and will soon be pulling for shore to lend some hands.”

Artist’s statement, Peter E. Egeli

The ship Ark and the pinnace Dove, set sail from Cowes, Isle of Wight, England on November 22, 1633. They first landed at St. Clement’s (now Blakiston) Island on March 23, 1634. On March 25, Father White celebrated a mass of thanksgiving for their safe arrival in Maryland – which we continue to celebrate as Maryland Day. At the time of their landing, St. Clement’s Island was approximately 400 acres. Accessible only by boat, it is now the St. Clement’s Island State Park. Erosion has left the island at only 62 acres.

Governor Leonard Calvert, who had sailed aboard the Ark, soon thereafter decided to move the settlement to St. Mary’s City, the capitol of Maryland until 1695 when it was moved to Annapolis. His portrait, attributed to James Van Oost I or II, c. 1640 hangs directly opposite the Ark & the Dove, in the pier between the two windows.

This painting gives the viewer an interesting vantage point, from sea level. It is powerful and evocative, and makes one consider the vastness of the water and the landscape that the first settlers experienced upon their arrival.




Portraits in the State House Caucus Room

Clarence W. Blount
Oden Bowie
Frank Brown
Leonard Calvert
Elihu E. Jackson
Robert McLane
Mary E. W. Risteau
Thomas Swann
Francis Thomas
William P. Whyte
Levin Winder

lANdSCAPE pAINTINGS in the State House Caucus Room

Morning on the Severn
Near Union Bridge
Twilight on Bear Creek
Susquehanna River
The Ark & The Dove

 


Decorative Arts & SculpTURE in the State House Caucus Room

Reverdy Johnson
US MD Silver Service
1840s Victorian Armchair
1905 Arm chairs