But the
'Indian Girl' and 'White Captive,' the crowning achievements of Palmer's
genius, and the ones that give a thoroughly American character to his
reputation, demand an elaborate consideration--not to explain their
merits, but to show what materials for art exist in our history, when
appropriated by the master's hand.
Romance and poetry have not often been successful in treating of the
character and customs of our aborigines, for the elements of true
heroism in the savage nature are so exceptional and few, that the red
man is a very poor subject for the higher manifestations of art. Cooper
and Longfellow alone have come back from this field with the trophies of
praise. But Palmer, with a striking originality and a subtle perception
of spiritual influences, sees in the effect of Christianity on the
'untutored mind' of the Indian, a theme to inspire his plastic clay. So
from this idea he evolves the 'Indian Girl,' standing in an attitude of
perfect repose, holding in her right hand a crucifix, on which her eyes
are bent pensively in a sweet, absorbing reverie, which shuts out the
consciousness of the external world. In the other hand, which hangs
listlessly by her side, she barely touches rather than holds a bunch of
feathers, evidently gathered to adorn her person, and which she forgets
in the contemplation of the story of the Cross.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48