Resting Mules Tethered to Wagons
Medium
animals
Classification
animals
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-172
About this artwork
Recto: Horizontal view of a resting wagon train, with tethered mules; tree and log cabin visible in background.
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *Resting Mules Tethered to Wagons* (1862) captures a quiet moment amid the rigors of 19th-century American travel. This horizontal sketch depicts a weary wagon train at rest, with mules tethered patiently to their loads. In the background, a solitary tree and rustic log cabin evoke the vast, untamed landscapes of the American frontier, rendered with Homer's keen eye for everyday realism. Created during the Civil War, when Homer served as an artist-correspondent for *Harper's Weekly*, the work likely draws from scenes of military supply lines or westward migration. Mules, vital...