Skip to main content
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
Description"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)
Collections
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.
Thomas Nast
Date: published May 20, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.133
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 24, 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.28
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 11, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.153
William E. Williams
Date: 2004
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2008.5.1
Thomas Nast
Date: published April 9, 1864
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.57
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 17, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.255
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 20, 1869
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.111
Carrie Mae Weems
Date: 1990 (printed 2010)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2011.5
Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Date: 2018
Medium: Pigment print with silkscreen diamond dust and gold foil
Object number: 2020.1
Unknown artist
Date: probably first half of 19th century
Medium: Gouache and gold over white ground on paper
Object number: 1986.26
Renée Stout
Date: 2008-10
Medium: Acrylic, latex paint, spray paint, plastic rhinestones, wood, glass, metal, varnish, collage, and found objects
Object number: 2016.2