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February
21, 1997
Mel
Fisher Maritime Heritage Society
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Glimpsing
Paradise” Opens at
Mel Fisher Maritime Museum
When
early European explorers first landed in the New World
and encountered its inhabitants, there were no
photographers or television camera crews to record the
historic occasion. The only images came from artists’
illustrations—and those illustrations form the
cornerstone of “Glimpsing Paradise,” a vibrant new
exhibition at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. The grand
opening of “Glimpsing Paradise” will be celebrated
with a reception at the museum from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on
Tuesday, March 4.
“The
exhibition offers insights into the European view of the
Americas, as portrayed by the illustrators who
accompanied the explorers on their voyages of
discovery,” says Madeleine Burnside, executive
director of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society.
“As a history illustration, it’s a tremendously
valuable look at the period of first contact between
Europeans and Native Americans.”
More
than sixty individually framed and matted paintings, on
loan from the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona
Beach, are on display. Among them are pieces by Jacques
le Moyne de Morgues, the first trained artist to
undertake a New World voyage specifically to illustrate
scenes of America. In 1564 and 1565, he accompanied an
early expedition to Florida whose purpose was to
establish new French territories; his portrayals of
Florida’s Timucuan Indians are particularly well
known. The exhibition also contains the work of John
White, considered by many to provide the first authentic
pictorial records of the New World. White, who sketched
native life between 1584 and 1586, is particularly noted
for his accurate 16th-century illustrations of Native
Americans.
While
“Glimpsing Paradise” offers a striking look at the
first contact through art, it also explores the ways in
which artists’ images of the New World were inaccurate
or perpetuated exaggerated images—such as the “Noble
Savage” stereotype.
“Glimpsing
Paradise,” however, is far more than an art
exhibition. It also depicts the vessels used by early
explorers and the Native Americans they encountered, and
incorporates a wide variety of artifacts from the period
known as the Discovery Era—including those from the
St. John’s Wreck, a 16th-century vessel currently
being excavated by Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society
archaeologists in Bahamian waters. Weapons, navigational
instruments, an earthenware olive jar, and even a rare
crocodile bone are among the artifacts on display.
One
of the highlights of the exhibition is a jangada, a raft
similar to those in which New World inhabitants
journeyed to meet Columbus. The 21-foot vessel, now a
part of the Society’s permanent exhibition, is one of
only three in the world made of wood from the nearly
extinct Brazilian jangada tree. A seven-foot dugout
canoe (circa 1700) is also featured.
Founded
in 1982, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society is an
independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to
exhibition, education, archaeology, preservation, and
research into New World maritime activity. Its Key West
museum, where “Glimpsing Paradise” will be on
exhibit for six months, holds the richest single
collection of 17th-century maritime and shipwreck
antiquities in the Western Hemisphere.
Everyone
interested in art, the early history of the Americas,
and the ways in which they influenced each other is
encouraged to see “Glimpsing Paradise”. It may be
viewed from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week at the
200 Greene Street museum. Cost is $6.50 for adults, $2
for children through age twelve, and $4 for students.
All Key West residents receive a local discount, and Mel
Fisher Maritime Heritage Society members are admitted
free.
(PHOTO
CAPTION)
This
jangada raft, similar to the craft that met Columbus on
his arrival in the New World, is on display at the Mel
Fisher Maritime Museum as part of the “Glimpsing
Paradise” exhibition.
(PHOTO BY DYLAN KIBLER; MFMHS)
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