User:Penny3663*/sandbox

Parson Weems' Fable, oil on canvas, 1939

“When George was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was immoderately fond, and was constantly going about chopping every thing that came in his way. One day, in the garden, where he often amused himself hacking his mother’s pea-sticks, he unluckily tried the edge of his hatchet on the body of a beautiful young English cherry-tree, which he barked so terribly, that I don’t believe the tree ever got the better of it. The next morning the old gentleman [George’s father] finding out what had befallen his tree, which, by the by, was a great favourite, came into the house, and with much warmth asked for the mischievous author, declaring at the same time, that he would not have taken five guineas for his tree. Nobody could tell him any thing about it. Presently George and his hatchet made their appearance. George, said his father, do you know who killed that beautiful little cherry-tree yonder in the garden? This was a tough question, and George staggered under it for a moment; but quickly recovered himself: and looking at his father, with the sweet face of youth brightening with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, ''I can’t tell a lie, Pa; you know I can’t tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet''”.

In 1809, Mason Locke Weems (Parson Weems) published the fifth edition of his famous and somewhat ficitional biography, The Life of Washington the Great. The new edition included many stories about Washington's youth, including the tale of the cherry tree being cut down. Though the anecdote has never been proven, it continues today to be a popular story about one of the United States' most famous presidents. Weems wrote the first biography of Washington after the American leader passed away in 1799. The country was only 16 years old at the time and lacked social and cultural cohesion. Men called their states their "country" rather than referring to their newly united nation. Weems' biography of Washington was a national success and portrayed Washington as an all around American who could be a moral inspiration for the American people. The cherry tree story in particular has been passed down through the generations and illustrated in numerous art forms, such as Wood's 1939 oil on canvas painting, Parson Weems' Fable.

In this painting, Wood depicts the moment when young George reveals to his father that he was the one to cut down the tree. Wood includes Weems in the composition on the far right, pulling back a red curtain to reveal the scene and pointing to George. A revealing curtain is a popular pictorial device in composition and can be seen in a wide range of artworks, from Italian Renaissance works such as Raphael's painting, Sistine Madonna (1512) to some of Wood's contemporaries, such as Charles Willson Peale's painting, The Artist in His Museum (1822). Wood's inclusion of the parson pulling back the curtain symbolizes Weems' part in popularizing the cherry tree story and how he was the one to disclose it to the American public. Wood also humorously alludes to another person who helped to form Washington's national legend, American artist Gilbert Stuart, who painted many of the most well-known portraits of Washington in the 1790s. Wood uses a head from one of Stuart's portraits on the body of the six-year-old Washington, resulting in an amusingly mixed-up depiction of the first president. Wood seems to imply that Washington the child is only understood through the virtues he possessed as an adult, not as a child who may have lied or gotten into trouble. The theatricality of the scene is intensified by the bright light that shines on Washington and his father, spotlighting the moment of Washington's virtuous act. Wood's lack of detail in the background also contributes to emphasizing the narrative.

Parson Weems' Fable is a part of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art's permanent collection.