The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art , Kansas City , Missouri . Purchase : William Rockhill Nelson Trust , 34 – 147 . Photo : Jamison Miller .
FIGURE 6 : Raphaelle Peale , Venus Rising from the Sea — A Deception , oil on canvas , circa 1822 .
FIGURE 7 : $ 50 note of the Republic of Texas , dated January 10 , 1840 . Written dates on these bills can range from 1839 to 1841 .
National Numismatic Collection , National Museum of American History , Washington , DC
among the maritime nations . The firm ’ s New Orleans branch , under the enterprising supervision of Tracy R . Edson , employed the design for yet another , even younger nation , placing it on the $ 50 bill for the Republic of Texas ( Figure 7 ). Here , the vignette complements another image of commerce on the high seas — one a mythological allegory and the other a depiction of ships , each mode of representation reinforcing the subject matter of the other .
In another change , Rawdon replaced the doves at the upper left with a woman driving a chariot with a star above her head . This allegorical figure represents the Morning Star , another name for the planet Venus when it appears just before sunrise heralding the coming of the dawn . With this detail , the engraver again makes explicit that this is the dawning of a new era , and as such , it is meant to glorify the commercial beginnings of the newly created United States ( or later , being employed to fit Texas ’ s circumstances ). In its own way , Rawdon ’ s vignette , albeit more subtly and with a more universal application , is as patriotic as Hatch ’ s . But while Hatch ’ s allegory can be more easily comprehended , Rawdon demands that his viewer take the time to “ read ” and contemplate his meaning . By signing his name , he boldly claims the image as his own — an image that , in a creative and fascinating dialogue with the original , transforms its meaning .
Although Rawdon ’ s image , in which beauty is placed in the service of economic growth , heralds the dawning of a new , exalted age born from the benefits of maritime trade , his adaptation brought with it a new set of problems . By placing his goddess squarely within the commercial realm , he allows her to conform more closely to American values . But by introducing this more profane purpose , he jeopardizes Venus ’ s status as an allegory of sacred love . His image comes perilously close to suggesting that love is for sale .
Rawdon mischievously hints that because filthy lucre makes financial transactions possible , there is a sordid side to the business of business . Paper money itself is inherently suspect . While contributing to the growth of wealth , it simultaneously devalues everything by putting a price on it . The bank note on which the image is printed performs both functions — it is a work that embodies ennobling ideals , while it is also a medium of exchange in a world of greedy acquisition . The vignette expresses the grandeur of the concept of a burgeoning commercial empire along with its less-than-ennobling
underpinnings . In this design , Venus as a goddess and Venus as a prostitute are increasingly more difficult to distinguish . The figure is both a goddess and a strumpet , appealing simultaneously to one ’ s exalted principles and baser instincts .
Rawdon ’ s adaptation of Barry ’ s design was thoughtful and diabolically clever . His Venus can inspire both love and lust . Those who handled his notes would certainly have responded to both Venuses , the goddess and the strumpet . In this way , he has required his Venus to negotiate some slippery footing . Presumably , he relished the precarious nature of her situation , one that mirrored his own , with one foot planted in the realm of high art and the other in low art .
William L . Pressly taught at Yale University , Duke University and the University of Maryland , where he served as chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology . He is the author of America ’ s Paper Money : A Canvas for an Emerging Nation ( Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press , December 2023 ), from which this article has been adapted . The book can be downloaded for free at doi . org / 10.5479 / si . 24871410 .
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