Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

The Spirit that Won the War

Artist Tompkins Harrison Matteson (American, 1813-1884)

CultureAmerican

Date1855

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 36 1/4 x 48 1/8 in. (92.1 x 122.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 48 1/4 x 60 in. (122.6 x 152.4 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower left: T. H. Matteson 1855

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2728

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 211

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting of men, women and children in an interior. In the center, a woman confronts a man; the right side of the canvas shows men assembling guns and preparing for something. On the left, a door is seen in the background; also a woman stands at a table with loaves of bread. Children play in the foreground on the right side.

Label TextTompkins Harrison Matteson American, 1813-1884 The Spirit that Won the War, 1855 Oil on canvas If you had lived in America in 1776, what skills could you have volunteered in the fight for independence? Everyone has a role to play in Tompkins Matteson’s The Spirit that Won the War. Women pack bread, children cast bullets, and at the center, a young man with a rifle prepares to join the battle. While history painters re-imagined events like Washington’s crossing of the Delaware (two versions nearby), Matteson’s historical genre picture takes us behind the scenes, asking how everyday citizens contributed to great events in American history. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2728ProvenanceGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Tales from the Easel: American Narrative Paintings from Southeastern Museums, circa 1800-1950," The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Ga., February 8 - April 11, 2004; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Fla., April 25 - July 11, 2004; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Ky., September 14 - December 12, 2004; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Tex., January 16 - April 10, 2005. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published ReferencesAdvertisement for David David, Inc. Fine Paintings and Antiques in _Art in America_ (April 1950), 105-106. The title in the advertisement reads "The Spirit That Won The War." Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 130. William Underwood Eiland, "American Narrative Paintings, circa 1800 - 1950," _American Art Review_ XVI, No. 1 (January/February 2004): 138-151. ISSN: 0092-1327 Charles C. Eldredge, _Tales from the Easel: American Narrative Paintings from Southeastern Museums, circa 1800-1950_, exh. cat., Southeastern Art Museum Directors Consortium, Columbus Museum, Ga., 2004, 158-159, no. 46. ISBN: 0820325694 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 66-67, no. 34. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Robert H. Churchill, _To Shake Their Guns in the Tyrant's Face: Libertarian Political Violence and the Origins of the Militia Movement_ (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2009) 94 fig. 1. ISBN: 978-0-472-11682-9