A rare print of a bare-breasted woman clinging to a military officer reminds us the fall of Thomas Gage, whose career was upended by the American Revolution.
Imagining the Battle of Lexington
Graphic images of the Battle of Lexington, evolving over more than a century, have shaped the way Americans understand the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
A Portrait of George III
George III longed to be regarded as a patriot king. Johan Zoffany’s 1771 portrait cast the king in his favorite role with a daring visual allusion.
Broken Officer
The Revolutionary War was fought decades before photography changed the way people far from the battlefields imagined the experience of war. Americans of the revolutionary generation relied on artists for images of battle, often engraved on copper or wood, printed, and sold for modest prices for display in homes or taverns or other public places. The first published depiction of a major Revolutionary War battle was a modest print titled A Correct View of The Late Battle at Charlestown June 17th. 1775. It was engraved by Robert Aitken, a...
Above: The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, John Trumbull, ca. 1786-1831, Yale University Art Gallery
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