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of Boston signed "RS 1832" (lower right) and signed "No. 756/Painted by R Salmon/Anno 1832" (the reverse) oil on panel 161/4 x 24 in. (41.3 x 61 cm) painted in 1832 provenance The artist to Mr. Langdon, 1832 Mr. William R. Langdon, wellesley hills, massachusetts Kennedy Galleries, Inc. new york Glen S. Foster, new york exhibited new york, Kennedy Galleries, Aspects of America: The land of the people, 1810-1930, May 1985, reproduced on back cover new york, Kennedy Galleries, Summits: outstanding american paintings, 1763-1985, November 6-December 7, 1985, no. 4 (illustrated) Literature The American Neptune, a selection of paintings by robert salmon: 19th-century marine artist, Pictorial Supplement XI, The Peabody Museum, salem, plate xx (illustated) Washington D.C., Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center Jerry Wilkinson, history of the u.s.s. alligator, keys historeum John Wilmerding, robert salmon, painter of ship and shore, 1971, Peabody Museum of Salem and Boston Public Library, Appendix A, Salmon~dq~s Catalogue of Paintings, registered as no. 756, p. 93 While Salmon gives us no sure identification of the vessel so prominently displayed in Schooner with a View of Boston, perhaps its relationship to American Schooner under Sail with Heavy Seas sheds some light on her possible identification. It was commonplace for marine artists of the nineteenth century to paint more than one version of a ship~dq~s portrait; especially if the vessel in question was involved in a significant event. This is likely the case with A Schooner with a View of Boston. Salmon~dq~s portrait of a topsail schooner becalmed at anchor before the Boston skyline with the domed State House in the distance is more than a marine painting redolent with nautical, topographic, and atmospheric detail. In classic Salmon style, it is potentially an important commemorative painting as well, considering that this unknown vessel is depicted so prominently in two important American scenes (see 67). During the 1830s Boston was the seat of the American Abolitionist movement. It is very possible that Salmon, an artist known for painting multiple versions of popular scenes, chose to capitalize on the popular sentiments of the day by depicting multiple images of the vessel that carried Eli Ayres on his historic voyage to Africa. The commissioned vessel depicted in A Schooner with a View of Boston matches known historic information available on the U.S.S. Alligator, and certainly relates to American Schooner under Sail in Heavy Seas, painted just two years later. The U.S.S. Alligator returned to Boston with Ayres on board in July 1821, and again set out for Africa on October 4, 1821. U.S.S. Alligator engaged a Portuguese pirate ship, Marianna Flora, overcame her crew, captured her and placed a crew aboard her to be taken to the United States. Alligator continued her cruise and captured several other slavers before returning to Boston for the last time. On November18, U.S.S. Alligator ran aground on Caryford reef near Islamorada, Florida. When the crew was unable to reload her they regretfully abandoned and burned their ship, which blew up.