George catlin described four bears as being “in undress, being in mourning, with a few locks of hair cut off, his hair put up in plaits or slabs, with glue and red paint, a custom of the tribe. The scars on his breast, arms, and legs show that he has several times in his life submitted to the propitiatory tortures represented in four paintings. ” four bears had earned the right to wear his horned headdress and his fabled shirt, but even in “undress” he was a hero of the highest order, straight out of the roman republic: “his breasts have been bared and scarred in defence of his country, and his brows crowned with honours that elevate him conspicuous above all of his nation. ” four bears also bears scars from his successful completion of the o-kee-pa, an important mandan ritual performed annually to initiate the most promising young men of the tribe. Catlin painted this portrait at a mandan village in 1832. (catlin, letters and notes, vol. 1, no. 21, 1841, reprint 1973, and 1848 catalogue, catlin’s indian gallery, saam online exhibition). Object Type: painting. Genre: portrait. Date: 1832. Place of creation: United States of America. Dimensions: height: 73.6 cm (29 in) ; width: 60.9 cm (24 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum. George Catlin - Máh-to-tóh-pa, Four Bears, Second Chief in Mourning - 1985.66.131 1 - Smithsonian American Art Museum
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