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Curators' Choices: 22 of 27
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The Veteran in a New Field, 1865, by Winslow Homer. Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), 1967 (67.187.11)
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Completed in 1865, the year the Civil War ended, Homer's canvas portrays a Union veteran who has discarded his army jacket and canteen, seen at the lower right, and returned to peaceful labor. The painting recalls the prophet Isaiah's words in the Old Testament: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares." Pigment that has become transparent over time reveals that Homer painted out a grain cradle on the scythe. The resulting single-bladed scythe conjures associations with Death the Reaper and reminds us that the veteran harvesting grain was not long before the harvester of men.
Location: South wall of gallery 222, The American Wing, second floor
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