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Frank Blackwell Mayer, The Continentals, 1875, oil on canvas, 22 1⁄2 x 18 3⁄8 in. (57.0 x 46.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1926.6.8
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Artwork Details
- Title
- The Continentals
- Artist
- Date
- 1875
- Location
- Dimensions
- 22 1⁄2 x 18 3⁄8 in. (57.0 x 46.7 cm.)
- Markings
- lower left in oil: F.B.M./1875
- Credit Line
- George Buchanan Coale Collection
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Keywords
- Group
- Figure group — male
- Landscape — road
- Landscape — season — winter
- Performing arts — music — drum
- Occupation — military — soldier
- Performing arts — music — flute
- History — United States — Revolution
- Object Number
- 1926.6.8
Artwork Description
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)