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"The Columbiad" -- Cruelty Presiding Over the Prison Ship

James Neagle, 1760? - 1822

1807

"The Columbiad" -- Cruelty Presiding Over the Prison Ship by James Neagle, 1760? - 1822

Medium

Print

Classification

Print

Department

Smithsonian Collection

Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Credit

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Barlow

Accession Number

AD/NPG.79.19.g

Tags

AllegoricalChainShipIllustrationWingsBookCannon

Art Historical Context

Step into the dramatic world of James Neagle's 1807 print, *"The Columbiad" -- Cruelty Presiding Over the Prison Ship"*, a powerful allegorical engraving from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Created by the American engraver James Neagle (c. 1760–1822), this work vividly captures a nightmarish scene of torment aboard a British prison ship during the American Revolution. Personified Cruelty, often depicted with wings symbolizing malevolent flight, looms over chained prisoners amid cannons, ships, and ominous chains—elements that evoke the brutal reality of overcrowded hulks in New York Harb...

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