Object Details
- Artist
- George Wesley Bellows, 12 Aug 1882 - 8 Jan 1925
- Sitter
- Billy Sunday, 19 Nov 1862 - 6 Nov 1935
- Exhibition Label
- Born Ames, Iowa
- Billy Sunday was the most successful preacher of his time. Once a professional baseball player, he turned to religion in the late 1880s and became a Presbyterian evangelist by 1896. In a few years, his ministries evolved from modest gatherings in rural midwestern towns to “revival campaigns” attended by multitudes. Drawing crowds in major cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles, these events offered a message of repentance and Christian salvation. Sunday's past in sports bolstered his popularity. Joining the Prohibition movement, he made preaching against the sale and consumption of alcohol key to his moral cause.
- In May 1915, at the peak of Sunday’s popularity, Metropolitan Magazine published the cartoon on which this lithograph is based. Artist George Bellows relays what contemporary journalists described as Sunday’s “pulpit gymnastics.” Without regard for his staff, Sunday stands between their desks, gesturing forcefully toward his audience.
- Nacido en Ames, Iowa
- Billy Sunday fue el predicador más exitoso de su época. Habiendo sido pelotero profesional, se volcó en la religión a fines de la década de 1880 y se hizo evangelista presbiteriano en 1896. Sus ministerios iniciales (modestas reuniones en pueblos rurales del centro-norte) pronto se convirtieron en “campañas de avivamiento” para multitudes en grandes ciudades como Filadelfia, Nueva York y Los Ángeles. En ellas difundía un mensaje de arrepentimiento y salvación cristiana. Mientras, su pasado deportivo fomentaba su fama. Considerando la Prohibición una de sus causas morales, también predicó contra la venta y el consumo de alcohol.
- En mayo de 1915, en la cumbre de la fama de Sunday, el Metropolitan Magazine publicó una caricatura que dio base a esta litografía. El artista George Bellows ilustra lo que los periodistas describían como su “gimnasia en el púlpito”. Sin considerar a sus asistentes, Sunday se sube encima de sus escritorios, gesticulando enérgicamente hacia el público.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1923
- Object number
- NPG.74.69
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Medium
- Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 40 × 55.9 cm (15 3/4 × 22")
- Mat: 55.9 × 71.1 cm (22 × 28")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1900-1930 (re-installation 2012)
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 322
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior\Church
- Equipment\Podium
- Human Figures\Crowd
- Billy Sunday: Male
- Billy Sunday: Sports\Athlete\Baseball
- Billy Sunday: Religion and Spirituality\Preacher\Evangelist
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.74.69
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm48c826298-40cb-4fed-9a63-f5f0b697269b
