O Veterano em um Novo Campo, Estados Unidos (The Veteran in a New Field) - Winslow Homer

 

O Veterano em um Novo Campo, Estados Unidos (The Veteran in a New Field) - Winslow Homer
Estados Unidos
Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Nova York, Estados Unidos
OST - 61x96 - 1865

Painted soon after Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865—and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination five days later—Homer’s canvas depicts an emblematic farmer, revealed to be a Union veteran by his discarded jacket and canteen at lower right. His old-fashioned scythe evokes the Grim Reaper, recalling the Civil War’s harvest of death, which culminated in Lincoln’s murder. The bountiful wheat—a Northern crop—may connote the Union’s victory and a redemptive future. Referring to both death and life, Homer’s iconic composition offers a powerful meditation on America’s sacrifices and its potential for recovery and reconciliation.