Provenance
Recorded as from Piscataquis County, Maine. Acquired in the 1920s by (Robert Gerry Hall, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine), by whom sold in 1948 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1955.
Accession Number
1955.11.4
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 94.2 x 109.3 cm (37 1/16 x 43 1/16 in.) | framed: 107.3 x 122.5 x 5.7 cm (42 1/4 x 48 1/4 x 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Allegory of Freedom from 1863 or after depicts an allegorical figure of Freedom in a painting that reflects the abolitionist and Union sentiment of the Civil War period. The 1863+ date places this during or after the Civil War, when the abolition of slavery and the preservation of the Union were the defining issues of American national life. The allegory of Freedom—likely depicted as a female figure in the manner of Liberty—reflects the visual vocabulary of American patriotic art that was mobilized during the Civil War to support the Union cause.
Cultural Impact
Allegory of Freedom is important in the history of American patriotic art because it demonstrates how the visual vocabulary of allegory was mobilized during the Civil War to support the Union cause. The 1863+ date places this during the period when the abolition of slavery and the preservation of the Union were the defining issues of American national life, and the allegorical figure of Freedom reflects the visual language of American patriotism that was developed during the Revolution and mobilized again during the Civil War.
Why It Matters
Allegory of Freedom is Civil War patriotic allegory: a figure of Freedom painted during the period when abolition and Union were the defining issues of American national life. The 1863+ painting uses the visual vocabulary of American patriotic art—allegorical figures representing national ideals—to support the Union cause.
