The Battle of Bunker Hill – Watching the Fight from Copp's Hill, in Boston (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XIX)
Original title: The Battle of Bunker Hill – Watching the Fight from Copp's Hill, in Boston (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XIX)
kurzbeschreibung
Unlike many battle pictures of its time, Winslow Homer's 1875 wood engraving does not center on the fighting itself but on the onlookers: spectators on a rooftop at Copp's Hill in Boston watch the Battle of Bunker Hill. The illustration in grayscale appeared in Harper's Weekly, volume XIX.
Description
Several figures stand on a roof; in front, a man in military uniform on a section of wall, his gaze fixed on the battlefield. Around him gather men and women in historical dress, also watching. Smoke and fire mark the distant battlefield, hinting at the fierceness of the fight. Buildings and a church spire suggest Boston's urban setting.
Context
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, an event of the American Revolutionary War. Nearly a century later, in 1875, Homer made this illustration for Harper's Weekly, a magazine known for its wood-engraved illustrations. The print belongs to a series of images treating historical events of the American Revolution.
Impact
The spectators remain in a calm, observing posture, following the battle from a safe distance. The grayscale and fine lines of the wood engraving give the image a documentary note that also holds dramatic tension.
Technique
Wood engraving is a relief printing process: the design is cut into a woodblock and then printed. Characteristic of this technique, widespread in nineteenth-century illustrated magazines, are the fine lines and the detailed rendering of figures and background.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)