Caught Napping (Boys Caught Napping in a Field)

This humorous narrative of lazy boys about to be punished was commissioned by George Washington Strong to illustrate a memory of his rural Long Island childhood. The artist shows that these country boys have been mischievous by playing cards and napping instead of working. The potential hazards of their indolence are suggested by a goat’s skull symbolizing death (affixed to a tree above them) and by the switch carried by their father.