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Artist/Maker
Thomas Nast
(American, born Germany, 1840 - 1902)
Datepublished January 3, 1863
MediumWood engraving on newsprint
DimensionsComposition: 13 5/16 × 20 3/16 in. (33.8 × 51.3 cm)
Sheet: 15 3/4 × 21 3/8 in. (40 × 54.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor Emeritus Jay Williams, Class of 1954
Object number2019.13.26
Not on view
DescriptionAmerican Civil War. "Nast’s depiction expresses pathos by emphasizing the separated family during Christmas, a sentimental time. Two large vignettes show a soldier and his wife, physically separated but thinking of and praying for one another. Below, scenes of an army marching through snow and a row of frozen graves remind the viewer of the gravity of their reality. The woman, portrayed within their home, serves as a pillar for emotional stability for her husband but also to her sleeping children, as she expresses her fears whilst they dream. Additionally, her submissive, kneeling posture evokes a sense of piety and moral aptitude that middle-class women were expected to possess and maintain. As a prototype, she is able to convey the feelings of every woman in her situation and affect viewers who are also impacted by the war."
(SOURCE: Mary Bei Prince, "Thomas Nast's Conception of Nineteenth Century Women", 2019)
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Additional Details
Provenance
2019: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Jay G. Williams.
Signature
Signed "Th Nast" in block at lower right composition.
Inscribed
Title typeset beneath the image and in block across the top of the composition in black ink. Page numbers "8" and "9" and publisher typeset above image in black ink.
There are no works to discover for this record.