[The Wilderness Battlefield]
1864
![[The Wilderness Battlefield] by Unknown](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/the-wilderness-battlefield-306605.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 4 7/8 × 3 3/16 in. (12.4 × 8.1 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
2005.100.944.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the haunting aftermath of one of the American Civil War's bloodiest clashes with *[The Wilderness Battlefield]*, a poignant 1864 albumen silver print capturing the tangled, smoke-scarred landscape of Virginia's dense woods. Photographed mere months after the May 1864 Battle of the Wilderness—where Union General Ulysses S. Grant faced Confederate Robert E. Lee in brutal, inconclusive fighting amid thick underbrush—this image evokes the war's grim toll. With no victorious flags or soldiers in sight, it stands as a stark testament to the chaos, where over 28,000 men fell or were wounded...
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...