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IMAGE AND TEXT: Faneuil Hall 1742
Transcript
IMAGE and TEXT: Faneuil Hall 1742
DESCRIPTION: This sketch of the original building of Faneuil Hall appears to have been drawn before the building was expanded to it's current size in 1806. The three story brick building with an A-Frame roof has a large cupola in the center of it, and is framed in the background by other smaller buildings, presumably made of both brick and wood. In the foreground of the building is a large courtyard, where locals interact with each other. Some of the people in the foreground are on foot, one is riding through on horseback. The image is framed by the text of the brochure above it, which describes the history of the building. Because of the way the artist was positioned, only two faces of the building are visible: a long rectangular face representing the side of the building, and a smaller rectangular face representing the front of the building. On each floor, there are various arch-shaped openings. On the first floor, the front face has three open arched doorways, and the side face has 9 arch shaped doorways. These allowed passers by into the open air market, which would have resided on the first floor of the building. Vendors here would sell fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, and other material goods. The first and second floors are separated by what appears to be a crown molding. Along the second floor, there are arch shaped windows, roughly the same size as the arch shaped doorways below. Each window is placed directly above a doorway, meaning there are three windows on the front face, and nine windows on the side face. The windows and doors are all evenly spaced apart, and separated by what appear to be decorative columns embedded into the fabric of the building itself. The third floor is nestled into the A-Frame roof, but it is evident there is a third story of sorts because of the windows nestled into the triangular pediment on the front face of the building, and the dormer windows protruding from the A Frame Roof. In the triangular pediment on the front face of the building, there are three windows: one smaller, arch shaped window in the center of the building, and two smaller circular windows on either side. On the side of the A-Frame roof closest to the artist, it appears as if there are at least four dormer windows, evenly spaced, protruding from the roof itself. It is hard to tell exactly how many windows there are, due to the nature of the way the sketch was shaded. On either side of the A-Frame roof, where both slopes meet at a peak, there appear to be chimneys. There is a large cupola in the center of the building made up of three parts. The base is a cube, made of brick, with one arch shaped window on each face. Resting on top of the base is what appears to be an octagonal prism. It is unclear what this portion of the cupola is made of, due to the nature of the sketch. On each face of the octagonal prism is an arch shaped window. The cupola is topped with a dome, that is shaped like a Meringue Cookie or domed tent. In the foreground of the image, there are 8 people visible. As the eye scans from left to right, it first comes across a man on horseback. The horse is dark in color, and the man is wearing a hat. To the right of the man on horseback is a family of three. There is a small boy standing to the left of whom is presumably his father, both appearing to wave at the man on horseback. There is a lady in her best dressed standing to the right of them. Walking on ground just below the cupola are two more ladies, both in their best dresses. To the far right of the painting are two gentlemen walking. One man appears to be wearing traditional colonial clothing and a tricorn hat, and the man to the right of him appears to be hunched over. The reason why he is hunched over is unclear.
CAPTION: Faneuil Hall as it stood in 1742.
RELATED TEXT: In early 18th century Boston a number of merchant families amassed great wealth through shipping and trade. Codfish, caught off the coast, were dried, salted, and traded in the West Indies for molasses and rum. These products were, in turn, exchanged in Europe for manufactured goods, or along the west coast of Africa, for slaves. One of the wealthiest Boston merchants of this era was Peter Faneuil.
Faneuil proposed to mark his success by building a central food market in his hometown. The merits of establishing a permanent marketplace had long been debated in Boston and all previous attempts had failed. Boston’s voters accepted Faneuil’s proposal only after much heated debate and by a slim majority. The building, as finally constructed in 1742, included not only an open market, but also a meeting space for the town government. The hall, named for Faneuil, was built on land gained by the filling of the small cover near the ancient and dilapidated town dock.
The lower level of the hall was divided into “stalls” which were leased for market purposes. Meat, vegetables, and dairy products could be purchased there in convenient, regulated surroundings on a daily basis. The large meeting room on the second floor became Boston’s official town hall. Here, in public session, Bostonians debated issues, elected town officials, voted local taxes, and spent town monies.
In 1761, fire gutted Faneuil Hall, burning the interior. Two years later repairs were completed -- this time financed by a public lottery. It was in this structure that the first rumblings of the American Revolution were felt.
Description
Audio description of text and relevant image of a sketch of Faneuil Hall from 1742.
Duration
5 minutes, 45 seconds
Credit
UniDescription/Gould and Pollock
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