2026/01/01 by F.A. Tetteroo · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Polar Research and Ecology #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies #History of Science and Natural History
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0032247426100436
Abstract The group portrait The Arctic Council planning a search for Sir John Franklin (1851) by Stephen Pearce is one of the best-known images associated with the Franklin expedition. However, the painting’s meaning and purpose have often been misunderstood from the beginning. Although it was a private commission from John Barrow, the Admiralty’s Keeper of the Records, the painting took on a public role as soon as it was completed, serving as a propaganda tool to garner support for the search for the missing Franklin expedition, in which Barrow had a strong personal interest. This article provides an exhibition and reception history of The Arctic Council , illustrating that it served as a propaganda tool at key moments during the search for Franklin and again assumed a propaganda role in the late 19th century, when British interest shifted to Antarctic exploration.