[The Wilderness Battlefield]
1865–67
![[The Wilderness Battlefield] by Unknown](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/the-wilderness-battlefield-306592.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 5 in. × 3 5/16 in. (12.7 × 8.4 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
2005.100.944.24
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the somber aftermath of the American Civil, *[The Wilderness Battlefield]* captures desolate remnants of one of the conflict's bloodiest clashes. Fought in May 1864 amid Virginia's tangled underbrush, the Battle of the Wilderness pitted Union General Ulysses S. Grant Confederate General Robert E. Lee, resulting over 28,000 casualties amid flames and chaos that obscured the fighting. This poignant albumen silver print, made from a glass negative between 1865 and 1867, offers a stark, unvarnished view of the scarred landscape—evidence of war's enduring toll preserved for posterity. The mediu...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...