A partial answer to the latter question, at least, came relatively soon, when I was contacted by a private collector who had seen Tropical Scenery on the museum's website and wanted to learn more about Talbot-because he owned a painting by him titled Christian at the Cross, a scene from The Pilgrim's Progress. It seemed like a sign from God-and yet there was still so much we didn't know. The art-historical literature on Talbot is extremely scant; David Dearinger's definitive book on the artists

more »

... of the National Academy just guesses at his birthdate and states that "nothing is known about him before 1838," which is when he first appears in the Academy's exhibition records. 8 Dearinger also does not mention Talbot's connection to Whitman, and this is partly why it would be some time before either the collector or I would understand that this Christian at the Cross painting was the same composition, if not the same actual canvas, as the one once owned by Whitman.