Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Eight Bells
Winslow Homer American
Not on view
This painting’s title refers to ships’ timekeeping methods, which are arranged in four-hour watch shifts. Eight rings of the bell signify the end of a shift at 4, 8, and 12 a.m. and p.m. (each toll represents thirty minutes). Here, two sailors record the vessel’s location in rough seas using a sextant and a chronometer, astronomical instruments for calculating longitude from the horizon and celestial objects. Homer expressed interest in writings by oceanographer Matthew Maury (1806–1873), who connected scientific measurement with divine order. The depiction of the sailors’ everyday work thus becomes a meditation on humankind’s struggle to comprehend nature.
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