| Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Emanuel Leutze |
| Year | 1861 |
| Dimensions | 6.1 m × 9.1 m (20 ft × 30 ft) |
| Location | United States Capitol,Washington, D.C. |
| Owner | Architect of the Capitol |
| Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (study) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Emanuel Leutze |
| Year | 1861 |
| Dimensions | 84.5 cm × 110.1 cm (33+1⁄4 in × 43+3⁄8 in) |
| Location | Smithsonian American Art Museum,Washington, D.C. |
| Owner | Smithsonian Institution |
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (also known asWestward Ho) is a 20-by-30-foot (6.1 m × 9.1 m) paintedmural displayed behind the western staircase of theHouse of Representatives chamber in theUnited States Capitol Building. The mural was painted byEmanuel Gottlieb Leutze in 1861 and symbolizesManifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined for Western exploration and expansion originating from the initial colonies along theAtlantic seaboard to thePacific Ocean. A study measuring33+1⁄4 by43+3⁄8 inches (84.5 cm × 110.2 cm) hangs in theSmithsonian American Art Museum.[1]
Leutze combined pioneer men and women, mountain guides, wagons, and mules to suggest a divinely ordained pilgrimage to the Promised Land of the western frontier. Within the left half of the picture is a depiction of the entrance to the San Francisco Bay, theGolden Gate, which is being pointed to by the pilgrim seated atop the rock in the foreground. Within the right hemisphere of the painting is a depiction of a valley, representing the Valley of Darkness and symbolic of the troubles faced by explorers. The imagery is familiar imperial iconography and is regarded as a symbol ofAmerican exceptionalism and the realization ofManifest Destiny, ultimately leading to the evolution of the American Empire.
The painting takes its inspiration from the closing lines ofGeorge Berkeley'sVerses on the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America:
Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The first four Acts already past,
A fifth shall close the Drama with the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last.
The imagery of the pilgrim gesturing on a high rock is very similar to the 5 centpostage stamp,Fremont in the Rocky Mountains, that was part of the 1898Trans-Mississippi Issue and reprinted a century later.
ACurrier and Ives print from 1868 uses the same title and theme for a very different print, showing arailroad crossing a new settlement as the train goes west.
Aphotographic print and a stereograph byAlexander Gardner,[2] both of an 1867 end-of-track frontier construction train, were titledWestward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way.
David Foster Wallace named one of his novellas "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way" in his 1989 collectionGirl with Curious Hair.
Early revisions of the 1995 computer gameOregon Trail II depict the study version of this painting on the title screen.
The painting is seen in the 2013 video gameBioShock Infinite.
