[Antietam Battlefield]
![[Antietam Battlefield] by Alexander Gardner](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/antietam-battlefield-283192.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 9.1 x 11.8cm (3 9/16 x 4 5/8in.) Mount: 4 3/16 in. × 4 15/16 in. (10.7 × 12.6 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.90
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alexander Gardner's *Antietam Battlefield* (1862) captures the grim aftermath of one of the bloodiest days American history—the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 2, during the Civil War. As a Scottish-born photographer who immigrated to the U.S. and became a key figure in documenting the conflict, Gardner worked alongside Mathew Brady before striking out on his own. This image, part of his series on the Maryland battlefield, starkly depicts the shattered landscape strewn with the remnants of war, offering viewers a haunting, unfiltered glimpse into the human cost of the fight that claimed ov...
About the Artist
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner was born on 17 October 1821 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and came of age in a culture shaped by radical social thought. Influenced by the cooperative ideals of Robert Owen, Gardner initially apprenticed as a jeweler and harbored dreams of founding a utopian community in America. His encounter with photography changed the course of his life. After seeing Mathew Brady's cele...