The Veteran in a New Field

Winslow Homer American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 762

Completed in 1865, following the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, this symbolic painting embodies the tension between grief and hope after the Civil War. A discarded Union Army jacket and canteen in the lower right corner identify the farmer as a veteran, and the "new field" of the title reminds us of his old one, the battlefield. This return to peaceful pursuits echoes the biblical passage from Isaiah 2:4, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." While the bountiful harvest signifies renewal and recovery, the single-bladed scythe evokes the Grim Reaper.

The Veteran in a New Field, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Oil on canvas, American

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