Dawn at the Alamo
Here's the most famous depiction of the fall of the Alamo ever painted. You have almost certainly seen it, but you might not know the story behind it.
The title is Dawn at the Alamo and it hangs in the senate chamber at the capitol. It was painted in 1905 by Henry Arthur McArdle to replace his earlier painting of the same title that was destroyed when the earlier capitol building burned in 1881.
McArdle shows you the apex of the carnage and confusion of battle. He wanted Dawn at the Alamo to venerate the bravery of the Defenders and inspire Texas patriotism.
McArdle was aided in his efforts by Reuben Marmaduke Potter, the first Alamo historian. Potter, a long-time army quartermaster, made it his job to learn every knowable detail of the battle and was dedicated to seeing it properly commemorated.
He advised the artist on the uniforms and weapons of both sides, as well as how the Alamo compound looked at the time of the battle. He thought it was essential to depict the hellscape the Alamo Defenders found themselves in. As he told McArdle, "It should be like looking into a volcano."
What McArdle painted is not a single moment in time, as it shows things that happened many minutes apart: by all accounts, Travis fell at the opening of the battle and Crockett, no matter which version of his death you believe, at the end.
Bowie is shown rising from his cot, knife ready to gut the foe. Major Evans, torch in hand, attempts to blow up the powder magazine. Susanna Dickinson holding the Babe of the Alamo, can't bare to look at what's happening. Joe, Travis' slave, watches it all in horror.
And it would be a horror still if we did not know what came after, that the Alamo Defenders would be avenged at San Jacinto and Texas would be a republic.
In a way, Henry McArdle has painted the birth of the the Texan identity.
Our museum quality reproduction is 24 by 16 inches and is limited to 254 copies, one for each county in Texas. Each one is hand-numbered.
Physical Details
- 24 by 16 inches
- Limited Edition of 254 copies
- Each is hand-numbered
- Museum Quality Reproduction
This is a high quality fine-art print.
The paper is acid free, cold press cotton watercolor with an elegant lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original map vividly, beautifully, and exactly.
The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang your map in direct sun and it will be just as bright when passed on to the next generation it is the day it ships.
It's an instant heirloom. Get yours before they're gone...and get one to give to a friend. He'll owe you!
