What does the finished mural depict?

The Subjects of the Painting

Baker’s finished mural depicts the core elements of southern Rhode Island’s colonial economy: to the left, an enslaved man herds a flock of sheep, shears in hand, to represent the production of wool; in the foreground, an enslaved man holds the reins of a rearing Narragansett Pacer horse, with a draught horse set behind the two figures, representing the breeding of horses; in the center, a male figure in fine, 18th-century dress sits astride a horse, pointing down as if he is commanding the enslaved man, representing the Narragansett Planter class; in the background, a ship rolls on the waves of Narragansett Bay, representing the shipbuilding, shipping, and trading of goods; in the right center ground, a man waves a lantern towards a rowboat, with two barrels next to him, representing the smuggling of rum and molasses; in the foreground, an enslaved man stacks cheese shipping cases next to a cow, representing cheese making and dairy production; to the far right, an enslaved man drives oxen pulling a cart full of sacks of grain, with an overshot water-powered mill behind, representing grain production.

Exhibit Navigation
1: Introduction
2: Ernest Hamlin Baker
3: Great Depression & New Deal
4: Treasury Section of Fine Arts
5: Baker’s Commission & Research
6: Slavery in Southern Rhode Island
7: Baker’s Artistic Process
8: The Finished Mural
9: Wakefield Post Office
10: Why the Mural Matters
11. Share Your Thoughts
12. Further Reading

Symbolizing an Economic System

Baker represented very specific relationships in the economic system: a ship represents the exportation of goods—goods produced in excess of the goals of a subsistence farming community; the Narragansett Planter’s connection to the Atlantic triangle trade through the use enslaved labor; and the enslaved people’s labor is what makes the large-scale agricultural production possible. The Narragansett Planter figure is portrayed not in clothing that he would realistically wear during such activity, but in formal dress that reflects his wealth and status. Baker portrays the planter as commanding, but makes it abundantly clear that he is not the person actually doing the labor that creates his wealth. Baker bucked the traditional history of his time that described Narragansett Planter society in terms of its wealth, political power, and the amount of goods produced and exported from their plantations. This framing of the Planter economy does not let viewers see it as something that occurred passively; rather it highlights that the Narragansett Planters’ use of enslaved people’s labor was the true source of their wealth.

Moving the Mural: Damage, Repair, and Conservation

When the Robinson Street Post Office in Wakefield closed in 1999, the mural needed a new home. Removing the mural from the wall proved to be a difficult process, as the canvas had been glued directly to the wall with an adhesive that could not be loosened with solvents. The Williamstown Art Conservation Center was contracted to undertake the removal, conservation, and restoration work to make the mural ready for display. To remove the mural, Williamstown’s head conservator applied a protective film to the front of the painting and then divided the mural into sections, scraping each section carefully off the wall. Although this work was done with great care, the mural sustained damage during its removal.

The mural then underwent conservation and restoration work at Williamstown’s Massachusetts facility, which unfortunately caused additional loses to the original paint. This process involved scraping the white lead ground off the back of the original canvas and fusing the original oil paint and canvas together using heat. Then, the original canvas was attached to a new piece of canvas that could be stretched over a frame, making the piece more durable and portable. The painting was cleaned, and damage that occurred during removal and conservation process were filled in with acrylic paints. A new varnish was then applied over the restored paint areas.

The Mural Before and After: Changes During the Conservation Process

The losses to the paint during the removal and conservation processes were significant, and the restorative painting does not closely match Baker’s original style. (It would have been difficult to replicate Baker’s technique of gradually layering paint when only touching up portions of the mural.) A comparison of an early color photograph of the mural and its current appearance show that there were significant losses of detail, especially to the figures in the lower left foreground of the painting. The painting technique used by the restorers, broad brush strokes and highly contrasted light and dark colors, does not match Baker’s meticulous detailing of the muscles in each figure, the froth in the waves, the branches in the shrubs, and the many small but significant details that Baker spent months to painstakingly create. Conservators also added details that were not originally in the painting, such as the dairy cow’s ribs in the central foreground of the painting. Overall, the balance of colors Baker achieved through a process that required that he go over the entire painting to adjust the color tones each time he made a change to one area of the mural was lost.

Damage to the painting during its removal and conservation was unavoidable, and it is all too common that restoration efforts fail, especially before the advent of technology now widely available. However, the elimination of details and changes in the tonal balances make the painting appear today to have inconsistencies in the level of quality of the painting – suggesting the Baker ignored one area and gave more attention another, and that he was not applying a consistently high level of craftsmanship to the whole painting. The painting we see now is sadly very different from Baker’s original ornate, vibrant, and meticulous work.

Banner Image: Baker’s mural as published in LIFE Magazine, January 27, 1941