The Morning Bell (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XVII)
December 13, 1873
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
image: 9 1/8 x 13 1/2 in. (23.2 x 34.3 cm) sheet: 10 13/16 x 16 in. (27.5 x 40.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
29.88.9(11)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer’s *The Morning Bell*, published in *Harper’s Weekly* on December 13, 1873, captures a quiet yet moment of 19th-century American life. Created as a wood engraving, the print shows figures—men, women, and boys—making their way through a wooded landscape, drawn forward by the unseen sound of a bell. Homer, already celebrated for his Civil War illustrations, used this medium’s crisp lines and tonal contrasts to bring everyday scenes to wide audiences through the popular press. Wood engravings like this one were essential to 19th-century visual culture, allowing detailed images to be...
About the Artist
Winslow Homer|Harper's Weekly|Harper & Brothers · 1836–1910
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of America's greatest painters and a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Largely self-taught, Homer began his career as a commercial illustrator and Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before becoming renowned for his powerful marine subjects and landscape paintings. His mastery of both oil and watercolor, combined with his uncompromising reali...