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New Lights Shed New Light on Pavilion Paintings

A close look at the shoreline in this painting of the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga revealed the Pavilion as it looked in 1860.
A close look at the shoreline in this painting of the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga revealed the Pavilion as it looked in 1860

Cataloging the paintings from the Pavilion has shed light on surprising details as our focus shifted from taking pictures to incorporating them into catalog records in the Fort Ticonderoga database. The cataloging process involves looking at paintings and other objects from many different angles to condense information into one location. We describe what the object looks like, the materials used to make it, its condition, its size, and its provenance.

Bright studio lights drew our attention to details that are easy to overlook under normal exhibit lighting. Tiny painted details, penciled notes on stretcher bars, and later restorations that tell the history of these objects were photographed and recorded.

Keep an eye on the Ticonderoga Collections Online database as the Curatorial and Collections department work together (from afar) to make our collections more accessible. The first group of paintings by the artist Ella Ferris Pell is already available, including pieces like this untitled landscape that were once in the Pavilion.