Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Shell

By Howard Pyle




A superlative illustration by Howard Pyle depicting a scene during the siege of Vicksburg in 1863. This picture was in a National Geographic Civil War book my family had when I was young. It both fascinated and terrified me. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

1 comment:

Ian Schoenherr said...

It's funny - I had the same book and the same reaction to the picture when I was little. I think I was afraid the shell might actually explode.

Pyle's grandson told me that when he was a boy he would look up at this painting while eating his bowl of cereal at his grandmother's house.