James Edward Buttersworth (American, 1817-1894)

Although the large American merchantman under tow from a steam tug in the foreground apparently provides the main thrust of this painting, the work is primarily a panorama of the city of Boston, one of James Edward Buttersworth's favorite locations. In it, the State House Dome crowning Beacon Hill is really the focal center while the merchant ship and other attendant craft offshore merely provide a complimentary framework. Not so peaceful as a very similar work (for which see Schaefer, p. 150, color plate XIV), the sea is angrier here and the sky suggestive of a storm as the wind freshens. Sadly, the merchantman herself is unidentified but the backdrop of Boston more than compensates for this omission.