The Same Clang of Rock
Series TitleIllustration for "John Brown's Body: a poem" by Stephen Vincent Benét
Alternate TitleCavalry Attack, The Black Horse Troop at Bull Run
Artist
John Steuart Curry
(American, 1897 - 1946)
Date1946
MediumCharcoal and oil on paper
DimensionsSheet: 29 x 23 inches (73.66 x 58.42 cm)
Image: 27 x 21 inches (68.58 x 53.34 cm)
Image: 27 x 21 inches (68.58 x 53.34 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton in honor of Coleman and Shawsie Branton
Object number2001.23.3
SignedBottom right, in paint: "John Steuart Curry"
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionIn a vertical format, this illustration depicts a surprise army attack during war. Two men brandishing swords on horseback attack three men dressed in blue on the ground. A fourth man in the lower right-hand corner flees for his life. Other references to war include the cannon on the left side of the page.Gallery LabelThe Same Clang of Rock recalls the first battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861, the first major conflict of the Civil War, generally considered a limited victory for the Confederacy. Featuring many dynamic diagnonal lines, Curry's drawing depicts the charge of the distinguished Black Horse Troop, a key factor in the South's success. It illustrates a part of Benet's poem focusing on Wingate, a fictional member of the troop.
Wingate felt a frog in his throat
As he patted Black Whistle's reeking coat
When the charge came down like a cataract
On a long blue beach of broken sand
And Thought was nothing more but all was Act
And the sabre seemed to master the hand.
Wingate felt a frog in his throat
As he patted Black Whistle's reeking coat
When the charge came down like a cataract
On a long blue beach of broken sand
And Thought was nothing more but all was Act
And the sabre seemed to master the hand.
Copyright© John Steuart Curry Estate / Kiechel Fine Art
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Camille Silvy
ca. 1859
2008.25.21
