The First Thanksgiving

Beautiful historic painting by the American painter Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863 – 1930). Ferris is known for his series of 78 scenes from American history, entitled The Pageant of a Nation, the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist. The works have been kept together since Ferris painted them. They became more publicly known after he licensed them to a number of publishers for picture postcards, prints, calendars and trade cards.

The First Thanksgiving may not be entirely accurate (wrong attire for both the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, for example), it still beautifully commemorates the origin of the National Holiday later created by President Abraham Lincoln.

Below you will find a smaller version of the painting. To retrieve a full-sized version, simply click on The First Thanksgiving to be taken to it.

the_first_thanksgiving

This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.