The Continentals
Object Details
- Date
- 1875
- Artist
- Frank Blackwell Mayer, born Baltimore, MD 1827-died Annapolis, MD 1899
- Luce Center Label
- Frank Blackwell Mayer painted this scene of Continental soldiers on the centennial of the battle of Bunker Hill, the first great battle of the Revolutionary War. In 1876 he submitted it to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, an event that celebrated the founding of the nation. The painting was highly praised and became so popular that other artists copied it enthusiastically. The cheerful image of soldiers marching through the snow to the beat of a drum and the sound of a flute reinforced the glowing myth of the war, inspiring a renewed patriotism on the nation’s one hundredth birthday. (Page, “Francis Blackwell Mayer,” The Magazine Antiques, February 1976)
- Topic
- Figure group\male
- Landscape\road
- Landscape\season\winter
- Performing arts\music\drum
- Occupation\military\soldier
- Performing arts\music\flute
- History\United States\Revolution
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 14B
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Object number
- 1926.6.8
- Type
- Painting
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 22 1/2 x 18 3/8 in. (57.0 x 46.7 cm.)
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- saam_1926.6.8
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