Audio
IMAGE: Great Hall
Transcript
IMAGE: Great Hall
DESCRIPTION: This color photograph shows the modern Great Hall of Faneuil Hall, located on the second and third floors of that building. It is taken from the third floor balcony and shows the inside of the Great Hall. The photograph frames several large scale paintings on the front wall of the building. In the center third of the front wall is a stage, elevated about 5 feet off the ground. The stage has a dark wood floor, and a base that has been painted white. The front face of the stage has been decorated with red, white, and blue bunting. On the periphery of the photo frame, portions of the third floor gallery and the white columns above and below it are visible. On either side of the stage, there are two large decorative columns that are embedded within the front wall with no structural purpose, but rather bring an aesthetic balance to the rest of the room. Dominating the room, in between these decorative columns, is a large scale painting which was created by George P. Healy between 1846 and 1850. This painting depicts a meeting in the Old United States Senate Chambers in the Capital Building in Washington, D.C. during a meeting in 1830. Though the painting is fairly dark, the viewer can see Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster standing in the center of the painting making a speech on the red carpeted floor of the room. Surrounding him, sitting in desks, are a large group of men, many of whom were also Senators at the time. In the upper portion of the painting, there is a balcony which has a red fabric covering the front. Seated in the balcony are a few men and a large group of women, all of whom are looking at Daniel Webster as he speaks. The painting is surrounded by a large golden frame. On three sides, the frame has multiple lines running in the same direction as the frame bar. Spread out evenly through the frame and over the lines are small X shapes. There are three on the top bar, two on each of the side bars. The bottom bar of the frame has an inscription located in the center with the quote "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever." This bar does not have any other decoration on it. Hanging from the bottom bar of the frame are three name plates. These name plates are for the busts which are located on the stage under the painting. There are five busts in total. From left to right they depict: John Quincy Adams, Frederick Douglass, John Adams, Lucy Stone, and Daniel Webster.While the busts of the Adams and Webster are made of white marble and have the signs above them telling people who the bust depicts, the ones for Douglass and Stone are made of bronze and have plaques on the bottom of the bust with their names. The busts are placed on pedestals of various heights. The bust of John Adams is on the tallest pedestal. Sitting just in front of the busts are nine chairs. The first three chairs on the right and the respective first three chairs on the left are all the same size. The center three chairs are all slightly taller than the ones on either side, with the chair in the center having the tallest back of them all. On either side of this center block of three chairs are two American flags. On the far sides of the stage, next to the two outermost chairs, are two unique flags. On the left side of the stage, beside the John Quincy Adams bust, is a Betsy Ross 13 star flag. In this flag, made during the American Revolution, there are 13 white stars arranged in a circle on the blue field in the upper left hand corner of the flag. This blue field takes up the first third of the flag horizontally and two thirds vertically. Extending out from this field are 13 stripes of alternating red and white stripes. On the right side of the stage, by the Daniel Webster bust, is the City of Boston flag. The flag has a sky blue background, in the center of which is the city of Boston seal. The seal is made up of concentric circles. The outermost circle, making up the border of the seal, is navy blue in color. The circle just within that, creating a boundary between the border and the rest of the seal, is white in color. Inside this white circle is a bolder, golden ring, framed on either side by a thin line of navy blue. Inside this golden ring is Latin text, reading "SICUT PATRIBUS SIT DEUS NOBIS. CIVITATIS REGIMINE DONATA AD 1822." This translates to "As to our fathers may God be to us. Civil Government Chartered AD 1822." Inside of this yellow band is a white circle. On the top half of the circle is what looks like an etching, done in navy blue ink, of the City of Boston, sketched as if the artist was looking over the city from the on the Boston Harbor. On the bottom half of the circle is text, in navy blue writing, that reads "BOSTONIA, CONDITA AD 1630," which translates to "Boston, Founded AD sixty thirty." Directly in front of the centered chair is a wooden podium, where speakers can place their notes as they address their audience. There is a microphone stand on the podium's left hand side, with an arm extending a microphone into the center of the podium. On either side of the front of the stage are two more flags. On the front left hand corner of the stage, on the same side as the John Quincy Adams bust, is a current American flag. On the right hand side of the stage, on the same side as the Daniel Webster bust, is the Massachusetts State Flag. The flag has a white background with the state seal in the center of the flag. There is a solid colored navy blue shield, with a white five point star in the top left hand corner of the shield shape, representing that Massachusetts was one of the original thirteen states. In the center of the shield is a Native American, holding a bow that is almost as tall as he is in his right hand, and an arrow in his left hand. The entirety of the native figure, his clothing, headdress, and items in his hands, is colored gold. Resting just above the shield shape is what appears to be a striped ribbon, that changes color from gold to navy blue. Coming out from the top of this ribbon is an arm clutching what appears to be a cavalry sword. Framing the bottom of the shield is a navy blue ribbon, with golden text reading "ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBERTATE QUIETEM," translating to "By the sword we seek peace, but only under liberty." Just inside of both of these flags on the front portion of the stage are speakers, used to amplify sound in events that still occur in the hall. The large painting and the stage are illuminated by a line of stage lights on the ceiling, just in front of the painting and the stage. On either side of the stage and the massive Healy painting are four more paintings, two on each side, with one just above the other. To the photographer's left hand side, on the upper portion of the wall, is a portrait of General Henry Knox. The lighting of the photograph makes it so this painting is barely visible. Just beneath the portrait of Knox is a slightly larger portrait of Peter Faneuil, the man who commissioned the original construction of the hall. This painting is also poorly lit, but it is evident that he is wearing a powdered wig and a red coat, and he is holding the architectural plans to the building in his hands. On the photographer's right hand side, on the upper portrait of the wall, is a portrait of Samuel Adams. This portrait is poorly lit, and he is barely visible. On the lower portion of the wall is a portrait of George Washington and his horse, as they valiantly defend Dorchester Heights during the Siege of Boston. The painting is also poorly lit, but it is evident that George is wearing a Continental Army Uniform. On both sides, separating the upper and lower paintings, is a white relief that contrasts with the gray wall. There is a white rectangle, framing a white carving of a ribbon draping across the gray wall within the rectangle frame, with the ribbon appearing to be pinned up in the center. Because of the placement of the photographer, there is one more painting visible on their right hand side. Separated from the other paintings by the beginning of the third floor gallery, and the columns that hold it in place, there is a portrait of John Hancock to the right of the portrait of Samuel Adams. This painting is poorly lit, and Hancock is barely visible. The third floor Gallery is separated from the main portion of the Great Hall. It is elevated by a series of columns, which are placed both below and on top of the base of the third floor. The gallery has what appears to be about 4 rows of stadium seating set up just behind the columns that hold it in place. At the base of the gallery, there are a series of lamps that hang over the main portion of the hall. The lamps have an elaborate spiral arm, which holds in place a spherical bulb. Just above these lamps is a railing, ensuring that spectators do not fall over the gallery and into the main floor.
CAPTION: The Great Hall of Faneuil Hall.
Description
An audio description of an image of the Great Hall of Faneuil Hall: a center of civic engagement since 1742.
Duration
9 minutes, 11 seconds
Credit
UniDescription/Gould and Pollock
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