On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Tátsicki-Stomíck, Piegan Blackfoot Chief
Karl Bodmer Swiss
Not on view
Tátsicki-Stomíck (Middle Bull) was a principal chief of the Piegan people, today recognized as the Blackfeet Nation in the United States. Maximilian boasted that he coerced Tátsicki-Stomíck into sitting for a portrait by claiming that Bodmer’s paintings had protective powers in battle. Yet the leader had his own incentive to pose for Bodmer. Tátsicki-Stomíck traveled to Fort McKenzie explicitly to trade with Americans, and sitting for a portrait fit in with the days-long diplomatic formalities that followed Blackfoot customs of extensive gift giving, meal sharing, and negotiating. Tátsicki-Stomíck painted his face with a vivid bluish metallic pigment obtained from the Rocky Mountains. Bodmer’s watercolor became the prototype for an engraved double portrait of the chief and his fellow Piegan leader Mexkehme-Sukahs (displayed nearby).
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