The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775

Last updated
The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775
The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec December 31 1775.jpeg
Artist John Trumbull
Year1786
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions62.55 cm× 94 cm(24.625 in× 37 in)
Location Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775 is an oil painting completed in 1786 by the American artist John Trumbull. It depicts American general Richard Montgomery at the Battle of Quebec during the invasion of Quebec. [1] The painting is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. [2] It is the second in Trumbull's series of national historical paintings on the American Revolutionary War, the first being The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775 . [3]

Contents

History

John Trumbull, The Painter of the Revolution, self-portrait, c. 1802 Self Portrait by John Trumbull circa 1802.jpeg
John Trumbull, The Painter of the Revolution, self-portrait, c.1802

Trumbull went to London in 1784 to study painting with Benjamin West, historical painter to King George III. [4] West, himself famous for such paintings as The Death of General Wolfe , suggested that Trumbull paint great events of the American Revolution. The first was The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775, started in the fall of 1785 and finished early in 1786. The second was this painting, which was finished in June 1786. Both were painted in West's London studio. [3] [5]

In July 1786, Trumbull traveled to Paris and stayed at the Hôtel de Langeac at the invitation of Thomas Jefferson, who was then the American minister to France. Jefferson gave "his warm approbation" to these two works and assisted Trumbull with the early composition of the Declaration of Independence . [6] [7]

Description

General Richard Montgomery is shown in full military uniform, illuminated in the middle of the painting, having been fatally wounded by grapeshot and supported by Matthias Ogden. In front of them are two of Montgomery's aides-de-camp, Captains Jacob Cheeseman and John MacPherson, both dead, lying in the snow, near a broken cannon. Behind Montgomery and Ogden are Lieutenant Samuel Cooper and Lieutenant Colonel Donald Campbell. To the left are Lieutenant John Humphries and Oneida chief Joseph Louis Cook (also known as "Colonel Joseph Louis"), shown with raised tomahawk. Major Return Jonathan Meigs with Captains Samuel Ward and William Hendricks are in the left foreground shown in shock at Montgomery's death. [8] On the far right is Colonel William Thompson of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. [5]

Art historian Paul Staiti notes that Ogden was with Benedict Arnold attacking a different part of the city during the battle and that Aaron Burr, Montgomery's aide-de-camp, should have been depicted instead. [5] Historian Nancy Isenberg notes evidence that Burr had attempted to retrieve the general's body, but also notes doubts about its accuracy. [9]

Trumbull described the scene in the catalogue for his exhibited works at Yale University in 1835:

Grief and surprise mark the countenances of the various characters. The earth covered with snow,–trees stripped of their foliage,–the desolation of winter, and the gloom of night, heighten the melancholy character of the scene.

Other versions

A large scale version (72+12 inches (184 cm) x 108+116 inches (274.5 cm)) painted in 1834, is owned by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut. [11] Johan Frederik Clemens engraved a version, The Death of General Montgomery, In the Attack of Quebec, December 1775, in 1798. [12] Christian Wilhelm Ketterlinus  [ de ] engraved a version, The Death of General Montgomery at Quebec, published in 1808, copied from a print by Clemens. [13]

Critical reception

The composition of this work has been compared to West's The Death of General Wolfe , completed in 1770, that depicts the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also at Quebec City, on September 13, 1759. Both show the death of heroic generals. [14]

The influence of two works by John Singleton Copley, The Death of the Earl of Chatham (1781) and The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 (1783), has also been noted. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Trumbull</span> American politician and governor of Connecticut (1710 – 1785)

Jonathan Trumbull Sr. was an American politician and statesman who served as Governor of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Trumbull and Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island were the only men to serve as governor of both a British colony and an American state, and he was the only governor to take up the Patriot cause at the start of the Revolutionary War. Trumbull College at Yale University, the town of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull County, Ohio, and Jonathan the Husky are all named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Trumbull</span> American artist (1756–1843)

John Trumbull was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolution".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson River School</span> American art movement

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. Early on, the paintings typically depicted the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and White Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadsworth Atheneum</span> Art museum in Hartford, Connecticut

The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as collections of early American furniture and decorative arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johan Frederik Clemens</span> Danish printmaker

Johan Frederik Clemens was a Pomeranian-Danish printmaker in etching.

Ralph Earl was an American painter known for his portraits, of which at least 183 can be documented. He also painted six landscapes, including a panorama display of Niagara Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale University Art Gallery</span> Art museum in Connecticut, U.S.

The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the gallery emphasizes early Italian Renaissance painting, African sculpture, and modern art.

Events from the year 1786 in art.

<i>Declaration of Independence</i> (painting) 1818 painting by John Trumbull

Declaration of Independence is a 12-by-18-foot oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life, and visited Independence Hall to depict the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met. The oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the United States Capitol rotunda in 1826.

Sylvia Plimack Mangold is an American artist, painter, printmaker, and pastelist. She is known for her representational depictions of interiors and landscapes. She is the mother of film director/screenwriter James Mangold and musician Andrew Mangold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Ogden</span> American soldier and politician (1754–1791)

Matthias Ogden was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War, and served in various political positions afterwards.

<i>Surrender of General Burgoyne</i> 1821 painting by John Trumbull

The Surrender of General Burgoyne is an oil painting by the American artist John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1821 and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.

<i>The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunkers Hill, June 17, 1775</i> Painting series by John Trumbull

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775 refers to several oil paintings completed in the late 18th and early 19th century by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the death of Founding Father Joseph Warren at the June 17, 1775, Battle of Bunker Hill, during the American Revolutionary War. Warren, an influential Massachusetts physician and politician, had been commissioned as a general but served in the battle as a private. He was killed during or shortly after the storming of the redoubt atop Breed's Hill by a British officer.

<i>Surrender of Lord Cornwallis</i> 1820 painting by John Trumbull

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting, which was completed in 1820, now hangs in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

<i>The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781</i> 1783 painting by John Singleton Copley

The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 is a large oil painting executed in 1783 by the Anglo-American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the death of Major Francis Peirson at the Battle of Jersey on 6 January 1781, part of the European Theatre of the American Revolutionary War.

<i>George Washington</i> (Trumbull) 1780 painting by John Trumbull

George Washington, also entitled George Washington and William Lee, is a full-length portrait in oil painted in 1780 by the American artist John Trumbull during the American Revolutionary War. General George Washington stands near his enslaved servant William Lee, overlooking the Hudson River in New York, with West Point and ships in the background. Trumbull, who once served as an aide-de-camp to Washington, painted the picture from memory while studying under Benjamin West in London. He finished it before his arrest for high treason in November. The portrait, measuring 36 in × 28 in, is on view in Gallery 753 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Originally in the possession of the de Neufville family of the Netherlands, it was bequeathed to the museum by Charles Allen Munn in 1924.

<i>The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777</i> Painting by John Trumbull

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 is the title of an oil painting by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the death of the American General Hugh Mercer at the Battle of Princeton on Friday, January 3, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. The painting was Trumbull’s first depiction of an American victory. It is one of a series of historical paintings on the war, which also includes the Declaration of Independence and The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776.

<i>General George Washington Resigning His Commission</i> 1824 painting by John Trumbull

General George Washington Resigning His Commission is a large-scale oil painting by American artist John Trumbull of General George Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783 to the Congress of the Confederation, then meeting in the Maryland State House at Annapolis, Maryland. The painting was commissioned in 1817, started in 1822, finished in 1824, and is now on view in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., along with three other large-scale paintings by Trumbull about the American Revolutionary War.

<i>The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776</i> Painting by John Trumbull, completed in 1828

The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776 is the title of an oil painting by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the capture of the Hessian soldiers at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of Thursday, December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. The focus is on General George Washington aiding the mortally wounded Hessian Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall. Nearly 900 Hessians were captured at the battle. It is one of Trumbull's series of historical paintings on the war, which also includes the Declaration of Independence and The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777. The painting is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.

<i>General George Washington at Trenton</i> 1792 painting by John Trumbull

General George Washington at Trenton is a large full-length portrait in oil painted in 1792 by the American artist John Trumbull of General George Washington at Trenton, New Jersey, on the night of January 2, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. This is the night after the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, and before the decisive victory at the Battle of Princeton the next day. The artist considered this portrait "the best certainly of those which I painted." The portrait is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, an 1806 gift of the Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut. It was commissioned by the city of Charleston, South Carolina, but was rejected by the city, resulting in Trumbull painting another version.

References

  1. Cooper, Helen A. (2008). Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery. pp. 84–5. ISBN   978-0-300-12289-3.
  2. Trumbull, John. "The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775". Yale University Art Gallery.
  3. 1 2 Trumbull, John (1841). Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841. New York: Wiley and Putnam. p.  93.
  4. Barratt, Carrie Rebora. "Students of Benjamin West (1738–1820)". Metropolitan Museum of Art. West met King George III, who appointed him a charter member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768 and by 1772 made him his historical painter.
  5. 1 2 3 Staiti, Paul (2016). Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through Painters' Eyes. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 188–190. ISBN   978-1-63286-465-9.
  6. Adams, William Howard (2000). The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson. Yale University Press. pp. 90–2. ISBN   978-0-30008-261-6.
  7. Trumbull (1841), pp.  95–6.
  8. "The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775". Yale University Library.
  9. Isenberg, Nancy (2007). Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr. Penguin Publishing Group. pp. 22–28. ISBN   978-1-101-20236-4.
  10. Trumbull, John (1835). "No. 5.–The Death of Gen. Montgomery, in the Attack of Quebec". Catalogue of Paintings, by Colonel Trumbull; Including Eight Subjects of the American Revolution, with Near Two Hundred and Fifty Portraits of Persons Distinguished in That Important Period. Painted by Him from the Life. Gallery of Yale College. pp. 11–14.
  11. "The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775". Wadsworth Atheneum.
  12. "The Death of General Montgomery, In the Attack of Quebec, December 1775". Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
  13. "The Death of General Montgomery at Quebec La mort du General Montgomery devant Quebec". Library of Congress. 1808.
  14. McNairn, Alan (1997). Behold the Hero: General Wolfe and the Arts in the Eighteenth Century. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 211. ISBN   978-0-77356-643-9.
  15. "Death of General Montgomery in the Attack of Quebec (Engraving)". Thomas Jefferson Foundation.