This hand-colored lithograph print is part of Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection. The striking and visually dense piece, titled "An Evil Tree" or "the Natural Heart" is a symbolic moral and religious warning from the 19th century. It seems to portray the consequences of sin and spiritual corruption (the fruits) and how actions can affect our inner state (the trunk).
The Fruits on this tree all have a different variety of "evil" written on them. They say things such as "love of money", "hatred", "murder", "anger", and "prejudice". The trunk has phrases such as "self will", "pride", and "lust of the flesh". Although many things about this piece make feel like an outdated scare tactic, there is something mesmerizing about its layout and in reading all the text throughout the piece.
From The Smithsonian. "No artist or lithographer is listed on the print; however this print may be an earlier version in reverse or mirror image of the 1830-1840 print by Daniel Wright Kellogg. It appears to be based on the composition by John Hagerty. A reverse or mirror image print is in the collections at the Connecticut Historical Society with the exact same placement of the letters and words but minus the serpent in the center lower branches of the tree."
See also: REM's 'Losing My Religion' shifted into a major scale
Previously:
• All publicly funded content should be in the public domain.
• Happy Public Domain day! Here are the works entering the public domain in Canada and the EU, but not the USA, where the public domain is stagnant
• Mickey Mouse's red shorts have entered the public domain
