DECORATION-DAY, MAY 30, 1871.

Thomas Nast

Artist's Biography

Decoration-Day, May 30, 1871.

Wood engraving, 1871.
Image size 13 5/8 x 9 1/8" (34.8 x 23.3 cm).
Good condition, save for minor discoloration in the sky. LOCATION: New York City

Inventory Number: 59900
Price: $40.00
Publisher : Published in Harper's Weekly. June 10, 1871. This engraving was done in honor of Decoration Day, better known today as Memorial Day. The tradition began in 1868 to honor the servicemen who had fallen during the Civil War. The artist, Thomas Nast, depicts a country at peace. Children, black and white, play with flowers as they sit around a soldier's grave. The tombstone reads, "Rest in Peace." Behind them, on the left, adults mourn and do what they can to honor the fallen. In the distance is Washington D.C., the nation's heart and capital, the very entity for which so many had fallen. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Caricatures and Satirical