They are dressed in warm clothes. From that fact and from the half-bare branches of the bush that we see growing beside the rock in the foreground of the picture we should judge it to be the fall of the year.
Standing in the bright sunlight, they look anxiously out toward the rolling ocean. The length of the shadows makes us think it must be late in the afternoon.
When at last they catch a glimpse of the dark masts of the approaching ship they will send a glad shout along the shore, and soon the beach will be crowded with an anxious throng of people hoping for some message or news from home.
At what seems to be a long distance from the shore the great ship will cast anchor and send out its rowboats filled with passengers, mail, and provisions. How eagerly the homesick people will crowd around the new arrivals and welcome them! Our three friends will not be standing quiet and alone, but each will be hurrying about to help the others. The spirit of helpfulness was very strong in those days of hardship and toil.
Notice the arrangement of lights and shadows in this picture. Our eye is first attracted to the faces of these three Pilgrims, then carried almost in a circle to the ocean, the rocks at the left side of the picture, to the rock the mother is seated upon, and back to the three faces. Start where we please the play of light leads us back to the three faces brought out by the white collars. Suppose we start with the mother's hands, our eyes follow her apron, the man's shoes, the light on the grass and ocean, then to the man's face and on around. Without these echoes of light, the picture would be unbalanced and much less interesting.
Half close your eyes and study the picture. There is not a single straight line in the composition. Notice the placing of the horizon line, of the distant shore. The artist started his landscape much as we do, with a rectangular space divided into two parts by the horizon line. He chose for his picture a small division for sky; the larger space to be divided into less than half as much water as land. Instead of standing so the shore line would appear exactly horizontal, he chose a position where the near shore line and that of the distant point of land are at an angle, thus relieving the monotony.
The tall, determined figure of the man, and his gentle wife, standing silhouetted against the sky, hold the ground space and the sky space together, while the mother seated on the rock serves as another connecting link. All the figures serve to unite the different parts of the picture into an effect of unity most gratifying to the eye.
Questions to help the pupil understand the picture. Tell about the Puritans. Why were they so called? Why did they leave England? In what boat did they sail? To what country did they come? Why were they then called Pilgrims? Why did they have such a hard time in this country? Upon what were they dependent? Why was the boat often delayed? What are the three people in our picture waiting for? What do the expressions in their faces tell us? How can we tell what time of year it is? the time of day? What will they do when they see the boat? Who will join them? Where will they come from? What can you see of their homes? Why are they so anxious to have the boat come? Why cannot the ship land at this beach? How will it land its passengers and freight? What do you suppose these three people will be doing then? What can you say of the composition of this picture? What did the artist consider first? What holds the ground and the sky spaces together? What can you say of the light and shade in this picture? Why is the picture called "Pilgrim Exiles"?
The story of the artist. George Henry Boughton was born near Norwich, England, but when he was only a year old his parents came to America. He grew up and was educated at Albany, New York, where he first began to paint.
As soon as he started to school he showed great skill at drawing, by, as he says, "drawing every mortal thing that came under my notice."