Existing comment:
Men of Progress
Christian Schussele's "Men of Progress" was described in 1862 as a painting of "the most distinguished inventors of this century, whose improvements... have changed the aspect of modern society, and caused the present age to be designated as an age of progress." The nineteen men in the painting were brought together only in the artist's imagination. They are (left to right):
- William Thomas Green Morton,
- James Bogardus,
- Samuel Colt,
- Cyrus Hall McCormick,
- Joseph Saxton,
- Charles Goodyear,
- Peter Cooper,
- Jordon Lawrence Mott,
- Joseph Henry,
- Eliphalet Nott,
- John Ericsson,
- Frederick Sickels,
- Samuel Finley Breese Morse,
- Henry Burden,
- Richard March Hoe,
- Erastus Bigelow,
- Isaiah Jennings,
- Thomas Blanchard, and
- Elias Howe.
In the background appears a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the patron saint of American science and invention.
Christian Schussele (1824-1879)
Oil on canvas, 1862 |