Museum Essay

Throughout mankind’s history there have been countless battles between countries and lands. To the victors of such conflicts go the spoils of war, prestige being one undeniable benefit. For centuries now, artists have strived to capture the emotions of war. With the invention of the camera, at the turn of the century, these struggles have been primarily documented by way of the photograph. While a beautiful medium in its own right, the photo unfortunately tends to have limitations. I would say it is representational art in its purest form, and gives the artist little freedom. That is why in this essay I will discuss two works of art, that were painted several centuries apart, depicting scenes from a time of war. Since both were created well before the invention of the camera, we can see the liberties that the artists take in each painting.  

The first piece I chose is a battle scene painted on the exterior of an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb. The work was done on sandstone, sometime between 1479-1400 BC. It shows Syrian soldiers being trampled under the horses that pull the royal chariot. The painting depicts the decisive victory for the pharaoh and his army. In order to showcase the military might of Egypt, the Syrian soldiers appear confused and discombobulated. There is a definite balance when you scan the piece, and although the soldiers are frozen in a state of chaos, I feel a certain rhythm as I view from left to right. Afterwards, my eyes get pulled to the soldier in the lower left of the painting. Although it’s unclear if it was indeed the artist’s intention for him to be the focal point of the piece, the man’s light skin contributes a small variety to the work. The sandstone’s natural hue is utilized as negative space between the fighters.

For my second choice, we must fast-forward to 1851, where we have an absolutely breathtaking oil on canvas by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze.  The piece is tremendous in size, and is called “Washington Crossing the Delaware”. Being somewhat of an American History lover myself, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to write about a painting that depicts such an important moment in the Revolutionary War. Carried out on December 25th, 1776, the surprise attack that follows Washington’s daring voyage across the partially frozen river, was undoubtedly a major turning point in the war for our freedom. The subject matter is American patriotism, with a special emphasis on Washington, the war hero and eventual president. The colors utilized are mostly dark tones, which makes sense due to the early morning hour, but the artist shines bright and beautiful light around G.W., especially in his face. I believe the colors are supposed to symbolize hope. Hope in the war effort, and hope for America. There is great depth in the work, and you can see many small boats filled with troops for the invasion in the distance. While standing in front of the painting, it seems as if everyone in G.W.’s boat is to my proportion in size. Possibly my favorite aspect of the entire painting is the American flag. The reds and blues that the artist use for the flag are incredibly vibrant, and give an overall sense of unity to the piece.  

Both of these paintings have similar subject matter, but the Egyptian artist chose to focus on the destruction of the pharaoh's enemy, while Emanuel Leutze preferred to glorify Washington and his military intelligence and foresight. Leutze uses colors to illustrate mood, while the earlier work is much more monochromatic. After doing this assignment, I found it amazing how similar subject matter can be for two pieces that were created thousands of years apart from each other. I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Met, and in fact, made a return trip on Sunday afternoon to catch another glimpse of these two amazing paintings.