Existing comment:
USS Constellation at Newport, 1900
by Reynolds Beal
From the library of Buchanan House, the sloop of war Constellation portrait shows the longest service practice ship, some twenty-two years, of the US Naval Academy. From 1871 to 1893, every summer it arrived to carry third and first classmen off to sea for training. Today, Constellation is tied up in Baltimore's inner harbor as a floating museum. The artist Reynolds Beal painted many circus scenes. Maybe he had a fascination with the canvas in the sails and in the big-top tents -- or was it an interest in midshipmen and clowns? |