Natural speed please, but not to fast! ;)
This document is a painting.
It was made by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1915.
It is entitled "The First Thanksgiving".
It is a picture of a dinner between the Indians and the Pilgrims.
(The Pilgrims were the first people to immigrate to the American continent which is now the USA)
The scene takes place in 1621 , on the coast / next to the sea.
In the middle a woman is giving some food to the Indian leader.
We know he is the leader because he has big feathers on his head.
The Indian leader is sitting on the ground with 4 other Indians, and the woman is standing.
In the foreground, next to the woman, we can notice a dog.
On the right, we can see a soldier with a sword and a helmet. He is standing next to a table. Around the table there are other people. They are not Indians because they are wearing more “civilized” clothes.
On the left there are Indians and Pilgrims walking. Two women, an Indian and a Pilgrim are very close.
In the background, we can glimpse the ocean.
This picture is colourful so the scene is cheerful.
We can imagine that the Indians and the Pilgrims, despite their different cultures, are friends.
Maybe the artist wanted to illustrate the origins of Thanksgiving and to insist on the fact that Thanksgiving is a moment of sharing and friendship.
However, we can also imagine that the painter wanted to show that the Pilgrims were superior. Indeed, they are standing up and eating like civilized people, while the Indians are half naked, sitting down on the ground next to a dog.
I have never seen this picture before.
I don’t really like it because I think the artist wanted to convince people that the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Indians was perfect. And it was not true, so, this painting is not realistic!
