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Foundering

James Hamilton

American Art

As in his painting The Last Days of Pompeii, on view nearby, here James Hamilton depicts human frailty in the face of nature’s awesome force. Under dramatic skies a foundering ship is tossed on stormy waves. A Confederate flag whips from the top of the mast (upside down to signal distress), making the image emblematic of the ongoing devastation of the U.S. Civil War and predictive of the South’s defeat.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATES 1863
DIMENSIONS 59 5/8 x 48 1/16 in. (151.5 x 122 cm) frame: 70 1/8 × 58 9/16 × 5 1/4 in. (178.1 × 148.7 × 13.3 cm)
INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed verso: "Foundering' / Jas Hamilton / Philada 1863"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 55.139
CREDIT LINE Dick S. Ramsay Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
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