MFA VTS: The American Revolution in Art Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? An Incident of the Revolution 1831 Jacob Eichholtz, American, 1776–1842 DIMENSIONS 123.51 x 168.59 cm (48 5/8 x 66 3/8 in.) MEDIUM OR TECHNIQUE Oil on canvas CLASSIFICATION Paintings ACCESSION NUMBER 47.1149

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? The Passage of the Delaware 1819 Thomas Sully, American (born in England), 1783–1872 DIMENSIONS 372.11 x 525.78 cm (146 1/2 x 207 in.) MEDIUM OR TECHNIQUE Oil on canvas CLASSIFICATION Paintings ACCESSION NUMBER03.1079ON

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? Title: The Battle of Bunker Hill Date: about 1776–77 By: Winthrop Chandler American, 1747–1790 Object Number: 1982.281 Current Location: |, MFA, 138 Rural Arts (Lurie-Marks) E  Dimensions: 88.58 x 136.21 cm (34 7/8 x 53 5/8 in.) Medium: Oil on panel Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Richardson Web Description: The battle of Bunker Hill was a recent event when Winthrop Chandler painted this panoramic view of the 1775 skirmish to decorate a cousin’s house in Pomfret, Connecticut. Although Chandler was primarily a portrait painter, he is also credited with about nine landscapes, among the earliest pastoral subjects in the folk idiom known in America. This scene was painted on a fireboard, a screen used to cover a fireplace opening during the summer months; it was later installed above the fireplace as an overmantel. Although Chandler may have spent time in Boston during the 1760s, the Connecticut-based artist was not present at the battle of Bunker Hill. Nor, apparently, was his composition inspired by a print. This depiction is instead Chandler’s own notion of the military engagement, one of the most costly British victories of the war.  While Chandler’s view is not accurate from either a military or a topographical standpoint (the spectator seems to be looking down over Charlestown from Breed’s Hill, where the battle actually took place), it conveys the drama of the event through telling detail. Wounded soldiers and riderless horses are scattered across the foreground. British ships blast the shoreline with cannonfire, while tiny figures cling to the rigging or flail in the water. At right, a house bursts into flame, a prelude to the bombardment of Charlestown. And, spaced neatly throughout the picture are the three forts that guarded the harbor, each proudly flying the Grand Union flag. The flag, with thirteen stripes signifying the original colonies and the crosses of Saint George and Saint Andrew representing the Crown, suggests a date for the picture: it was the colonial standard until June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.   This text was adapted from Gerald W. R. Ward et al., American Folk (Boston: MFA Publications, 2001). Label Text: The battle of Bunker Hill was still news when Chandler painted this scene for a cousin’s house in Pomfret, Connecticut. Chandler did not see the battle, and his view is not exactly accurate. Even so, he captures the drama of the event: wounded soldiers and riderless horses scatter across the foreground, British ships blast the shoreline with cannonfire, and tiny figures cling to a ship’s rigging or flail in the water. The three forts that guarded the harbor fly the Grand Union, the first national flag of the United States. Provenance: About 1776-77, the artist's cousin, Peter Chandler (1733-1816), Pomfret, Conn.; 1816, by descent to Mary Chandler Bowen (Mrs. William Bowen, 1760-1834), Woodstock, Conn.; by 1896, descended in the Bowen family to Herbert W. Bowen (1856-1927), Woodstock, Conn.; 1927, by descent to his widow, Carolyn Clegg Bowen (1876-1949); 1949, by descent to their nephew, Gardner Richardson (1884-1972); by descent to his widow, Dorothea S. K. Richardson (d. 1982); 1982, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Richardson to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 1982)

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? Paul Revere 1768 John Singleton Copley, American, 1738–1815 DIMENSIONS 89.22 x 72.39 cm (35 1/8 x 28 1/2 in.) MEDIUM OR TECHNIQUE Oil on canvas CLASSIFICATION Paintings ACCESSION NUMBER 30.781

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? Title: The Boston Massacre Date: 1770 Related People:By: Paul Revere, Jr.American, 1734–1818 Object Number: 62.506 Status: Not On ViewDimensions: Framed: 40.6 x 36.5 x 3.2 cm (16 x 14 3/8 x 1 1/4 in.) Sheet: 25.1 x 21.6 cm (9 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.) Medium: Engraving, hand colored Credit Line: Gift of Miss Margaret A. Revere, Miss Anna P. Revere, Mr. Paul Revere and Mr. John Revere Chapin Descriptions: The Revere Family impression of the original engraving, framed. Provenance: Revere family; gift May 9, 1962  

What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find? The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June, 1775 after 1815–before 1831 John Trumbull (American, 1756–1843) DIMENSIONS 50.16 x 75.56 cm (19 3/4 x 29 3/4 in.) ACCESSION NUMBER 1977.853 MEDIUM OR TECHNIQUE Oil on canvas ON VIEW Liberty Mutual Gallery (Gallery 136)