Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of a drawing of Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana by Henry Chapman Ford, ca.1883. The mission consists of several adjoining buildings and a long arcade. The buildings appear to be in a state of disrepair. Stucco is chipping off of the adobe walls. Cracks are clearly depicted and are evident at many parts of the building. "Henry C. Ford was best known for his paintings of the entire chain of twenty-one California missions. He was born in Livonia, New York in 1828, but he pursued his studies in Paris and Florence during the late 1850's. He was a Civil War illustrator and veteran, and as soon as he was discharged from service, he settled in Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, Ford became an accomplished landscapist, and was one of the founders of the Chicago Academy of Design in 1873. The studio that Ford kept in Chicago burned down in 1871. Due to his failing health, Ford moved to a milder climate, settling in Santa Barbara, California. In the summers of 1880 and 1881, he traveled by horse and buggy to each mission site south of Santa Barbara. On the mission grounds, Ford made pencil drawings and painted sketches. He was the first artist to make a set of mission images in two media, oil and etching. He went to New York to turn his renditions into etchings, which were inexpensive and could be easily duplicated. In 1893, he exhibited his mission etchings at the Chicago World's Fair. Later in his life, Ford taught and continued to paint from his Santa Barbara home. He died in 1894, leaving behind the important historical contribution of his California mission paintings." -- unknown author. "The Mission San Fernando, Rey de Espana, was established by Fray Fermin Francisco De Lasuen on September 8, 1797 as one of a chain of missions which were built to convert the native peoples to Christianity and to consolidate Spanish power along the coast of California. The walls of the church are seven feet thick at the base and five feet thick at the top. The material used was adobe brick and the people who built it were primarily the native peoples, who were called the Gabrielinos (Spanish name) or the Tongva. The establishment of the missions in California was traumatic for the native peoples. It brought about a forced change in their lifestyle, beliefs and culture. In addition, the Spanish unwittingly brought diseases for which the native peoples had not developed resistance, thus causing the death of a large percentage of the population. At one time the mission was a huge ranch with 121,542 acres of land. It had 21,745 cattle, sheep and horses and it produced corn, wheat, tallow, soap, hides, shoes, cloth, wine, olive oil and ironwork. Woodwork, saddles and weaving were made in some of the workshops that can be seen there. The Convento, where the priests lived was completed in 1822." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
2 photographs : glass photonegative, photoprint, b&w 21 x 26 cm. glass plate negatives photographic prints photographs art
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