| OCR Text |
Show are made to analyze the image changes observed in the various states of this print. This first examination serves as the "test case," to determine whether the methodology the prints initially seem to demand is feasible. The interpretation of the image changes, based upon the accumulation of corroborative information from various fields, allows a limited analysis of the documentary and artistic value of the print. It becomes increasingly evident, however, that the examination lacks clarity. This lack of clarity reflects a similar confusion in the historical literature, which has limited the interpretation of the aquatints in the past. As the methodology develops, based upon detailed comparisons made in conjunction with interdisciplinary evidence, it is tested fully in the examination of Tableau 27, Scalp Dance of the Minataries. This detailed examination offers the opportunity to redefine both the documentary and the artistic value of this print, while concurrently re-examining the criteria by which Bodmer's aquatints have been evaluated in the past. By tracing the progressive revisions imposed upon the images as the aquatint passed through its various states, it is possible to observe the process by which the print was created, while also clarifying how the images have been interpreted historically. However, it is through examination of this print that further questions surface regarding what constitutes primary and secondary documentation and how much either can be relied upon with certainty. These questions lead naturally to examination of the third aquatint, Vignette 26, The Travellers Meeting at Fort Clark. This examination, which marks a transition in the nature and direction of the research, explores the issue of what constitutes primary and secondary information. The evidence XIII |
