Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (August 18, 1863 - March 18, 1930 was an American painter best known for his series of 78 scenes from American history, entitled 'The Pageant of a Nation', the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist The paintings showed idealized portrayals of famous moments from American history. The complete series was shown at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and met with mixed reviews from his contemporaries and historiansJ L G Ferris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Stephen James Ferris, a portrait painter. The dotting father was such a devotee of Jean-Leon Gerome (that he gave his son such a non-American name)This is the first book dealing with the contents of the 78 individual pieces of the title