The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)

The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)

Winslow Homer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This wood engraving appeared in the same issue of Harper’s Weekly as "The War for the Union, 1862—A Bayonet Charge," but focuses on intense life-saving work behind the lines instead of the immediacy of battle. Homer spent time with the Army of the Potomac in Virginia during the summer of 1862 and drew his figures from life. Here he describes a small medical staff operating on wounded soldiers who lie on the ground while conflict rages in the distance. The accompanying text notes that Homer “introduces us to the most painful scene on the battle-field. Away in the rear, under the green flag, which is always respected amongst civilized soldiers, the surgeon and his assistants receive the poor wounded soldiers, and swiftly minister to their needs. . . . Of all officers, the surgeon is often the one who requires most nerve and courage.”

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VII)

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.