"The Funeral Cortege"
Object number2011.034.0067
Date1968 - 1985
ClassificationsArt
Artist
Bernadine Stetzel
ObjectArtwork
Credit LineBernadine Stetzel Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions25 x 28 in. (63.5 x 71.1 cm)
DescriptionOil painting on canvas created by artist Bernadine Stetzel of President Kennedy's funeral cortege passing the U.S. Capitol.
Artist Stetzel described this piece as follows: "The President's funeral cortege slowly passes by the Capitol Building."
An enthusiastic supporter of John F. Kennedy, Stetzel was devastated by the assassination. Shortly after visiting the president’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in 1968, she began work on a series of paintings that depicted the life of the late president. Between 1968 and 1985, with a long break in the middle, Bernadine Stetzel created 71 works that followed John F. Kennedy from his christening ceremony to the eternal flame at his gravesite.
Curatorial CommentaryAlthough hundreds of photographs were taken of the Kennedy funeral cortege on November 25, 1963, this particular perspective is nearly identical to a black and white Associated Press photograph taken against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol. – Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator
Included in the Museum's temporary exhibit, "Mourning a President," about the funeral and mourning rites for President John F. Kennedy, this item will be on display on the Museum's seventh floor from November 17, 2017 to February 19, 2018. -- Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
