[The Wilderness Battlefield]
1864
![[The Wilderness Battlefield] by Unknown](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/the-wilderness-battlefield-306597.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 4 5/8 × 3 7/16 in. (11.7 × 8.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.944.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the haunting aftermath of one of the Civil War's bloodiest clashes with *The Wilderness Battlefield* (1864), an albumen silver print from glass negative. Captured just months after the fierce Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia—where Union General Ulysses S. Grant clashed with Confederate Robert E. Lee in tangled underbrush—this 4 5/8 × 3 7/16-inch photograph reveals a desolate landscape scarred by combat. Sun-bleached skulls amid the wilderness evoke the human toll, transforming a serene vista into a stark memorial. As one of the earliest photographic records of war's devastation,...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...