ABSTRACT
The Civil War presented both an opportunity and a dilemma for artists: here was a new subject—a war that definitively consumed the country’s attention— but how to represent this violent struggle, and the more abstract issues it raised, was far from clear. War was traditionally the subject matter most suited for history painting, a genre of fine art characterized by large canvases, grand scenes, and heroic figures. American artists, inspired by European models, created such pictures following the Revolutionary War, including popular paintings of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and George Washington crossing the Delaware River. History paintings were often commissioned for large public spaces to commemorate important events and to shape collective memory. In scale and subject, they were designed to convey a moral message and to instill a sense of national pride.
