Depiction of Christopher Columbus at Main Building - Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

from a "Wikispaces" blog on the "Columbus Murals" -- http://columbusmurals.wikispaces.com Columbus had gained a mythic status in American culture, as the stories and fabrications regarding his life had grown exponentially since his death. This veneration for Columbus came from all sides. Most importantly for our investigation, the Catholic church saw him as not only an American hero, but a Catholic hero. Columbus was a devout Christian who took great means to spread his religious beliefs throughout the New World. Representations of Columbus from the 19th century, which can be seen in a litany of artistic projects, reflect this congratulatory mindset and, as many historians have shown, fueled the persistence of a misinformed public conception of who Columbus was. An all too flawed narrative of the events and peoples that shaped his life became the accepted standard. "Writers and artists, always hoping to create a Columbus worthy of discovering and founding a great nation, went beyond reality to further the reputation of the admiral" (Bushman 145). Thus, the University of Notre Dame posits that it is "not surprising" that the administration at that time would want to commemorate Columbus' life through some sort of aesthetic display. A much more modern portrayal of Columbus debunks this long-standing apotheosis: •He was not the first non-Native American to reach the Americas. •His tyrannical approach to leadership sparked dissent amongst his crew and eventually led to his removal from power in Hispaniola. •He played a pivotal role in implementing the encomienda system that exploited, enslaved, and exterminated the Taino and Carib people. Verbatim quotes from his journals like "they ought to be good servants" and "with 50 men, we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want" tarnish the idea that Columbus was a man of compassion, morals, and ethics.