The Army of the Potomac - A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty

Winslow Homer gained formative artistic experience by creating illustrations of Civil War scenes that appeared as engravings in the popular journal Harper's Weekly. One of his most famous illustrations, The Army of the Potomac-A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty was based on an early oil painting. Both compositions rely on diagonal lines to portray a Union sniper perched precariously in a pine tree while taking aim at an enemy beyond the image's borders. Homer's inclusion of the canteen, a detail that does not appear in the painting, suggests the long duration of the soldier's post. The target's distance alludes to the increasing anonymity of war resulting from advances in arms technology, which reduced the need for hand-to-hand combat.