Summary

William Henry Powell: Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto
Artist	William Henry Powell  (1823–1879)     Alternative names W. H. Powell George William Henry Powell Description American painter Date of birth/death 14 February 1823  6 October 1879  Location of birth/death New York City New York City Authority file : Q3568696 VIAF: 33718699 ISNI: 0000000067055701 ULAN: 500026492 LCCN: n96021895 RKD: 96614 WorldCat artist QS:P170,Q3568696 (photograph courtesy Architect of the Capitol)
Title	English: Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto
Object type	painting
Description	William H. Powell was the last artist to be commissioned by the Congress for a painting in the Rotunda. His dramatic and brilliantly colored canvas shows Spanish conqueror and explorer Hernando DeSoto, riding a white horse, the first European to view the Mississippi River, in 1541. As De Soto and his troops approach, the Native Americans in front of their tepees watch, and a chief holds out a peace pipe. In the foreground is a jumble of weapons and soldiers, suggesting the attack they had suffered shortly before. To the right, a monk prays as a crucifix is set in the ground. Powell (1823–1879) was born in New York and raised in Ohio. He studied art in Italy and worked on the painting in Paris. He also painted The Battle of Lake Erie, which hangs in the east Senate Grand Staircase in the Capitol. The dimensions of this oil painting on canvas are 365.76 cm by 548.64 cm (144.00 in by 216.00 in).
Date	1853 date QS:P571,+1853-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Source/Photographer	Architect of the Capitol

Licensing

Object

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse The author died in 1879, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/PDMCreative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0falsefalse The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

Photograph

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

This image is a work of an employee of the Architect of the Capitol, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, all images created or made by the Architect of the Capitol are in the public domain in the United States.