Boudoir card depicting a photographic reproduction of an allegorical Civil War painting by Paul Philippoteaux, possibly a panel from one of his four versions of "The Gettysburg Cyclorama." Shows a figure resembling General George McClellan pointing to Lincoln, his hand on his chest and standing on the steps of a pavilion. A white and African American man stand next to Lincoln. The pavilion is comprised of a tent adorned with ornate shields and stone columns marked "Union" and "Liberty." Urns rest atop the columns. Smoke rises from them. A large statue of the figure of Liberty rises over the pavilion. Inside the pavilion, men in suits sit at a long table at which two other men, one in shirt sleeves, stand and sign documents. A crowd of men stand behind and beside the table. Near the "Liberty" column in the right, a white man breaks the shackles of a male slave as armed African Americans rush by. Troops of soldiers march around the pavilion in front of cheering men, women, and children, including blacksmiths near an anvil, flags, and a shield in the right foreground. In the left foreground, an older man holds the reigns of a rider less grey horse next to a man astride a black horse. In the left background, the U.S. Capitol is visible and in the right background ironclads sail on the ocean. French artist Paul Phillipoteaux was commissioned to create the Gettysburg Cyclorama painting in 1879. Depicting Pickett's charge, he created four versions, with the first completed in 1883 and displayed in Chicago. The second version was first shown in Boston in 1884, with the third and fourth versions shown in Philadelphia and New York in 1886. Two of the four versions are known to be extant (Chicago and Boston). Contemporary descriptions of the extant cyclorama paintings do not include the scene reproduced by Allen & Rowell, who also reproduced "The Gettysburg Cyclorama" as boudoir cards circa 1884., Date inferred from possible provenance and its year of display in Boston., Photographer's imprint printed on verso., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015)
Creator
Allen & Rowell
Date
[ca. 1884]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Allen & Rowell [P.2017.83]
