Last week we talked about the role art, architecture and culture played in shaping the identities of countries that were seapowers.I mentioned a historian named Andrew Lambert who pioneered this notion in one of his books.
When he found out I was coming to London last year he encouraged me to visit the historic complex of buildings known as the “Old Royal Naval College” in Greenwich.He told me be sure to see the Painted Hall, the chapel, and a sculptural tableau known as the Nelson Pediment.“That ensemble is seapower as national identity,” he said.As far as architecture goes, it’s one of the most impressive sites I’ve ever seen.
Such an identity is a national choice, Lambert notes.Athens for instance chose to become a seapower when it faced destruction by the continental power of Persia.Once that choice was made, its art and architecture began reminding its citizens that they were different from other Greek city-states.Their identity was focused on the sea.
It’s a bit complicated, but behind all this is the notion that the public-facing creative manifestation of a culture, from its coins to its architecture to its dominant paintings, all reinforce what a country wants people to think of it.
We don’t have ships on our coins or naval heroes in the sculptures on our public buildings.On our money we only have a small number of political figures—no artists, no musicians, no inventors, no writers.Think about who could be on our money but isn’t, and that will clue you in on the message our images seek to send.
Famous paintings in Britain commemorated things like the English naval victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the British fleet’s victory over the French at Trafalgar in 1805 as being formative moments not just in history but in English national identity.American painter John Trumbull’s most famous pieces—the ones that hang in the rotunda of the Capitol Building—show visitors celebrated army victories like Saratoga and Yorktown, along with his most famous painting of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence, as being the formative American moments.Since the early 20th century, the United States has had a powerful navy, but it’s never been a seapower.
American cultural expressions of this sort are often fought over.Sometimes the fights are subtle and other times they’re less so, but what’s at stake amounts to national identity.The current administration, for instance, condemns any architectural design of public buildings that doesn’t look back to the perceived glories of Athens and Rome.
Let’s expand on this next time.
