Militia training

Clonney, James Goodwyn (1812-1867)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1841

Height:

71.1 cm  (28 in.)

Width:

101.6 cm  (40 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

From the museum website: "Militia Training," [Clonney's] most ambitious work, showcases the noise, confusion, celebratory moods, and varying degrees of skill of the young nation's volunteer troops, who regularly came together for defensive maneuvers, and to socialize as well. The activities occurring in this lively scene were closely observed - numerous preparatory drawings, such as for the dancing figure in the center (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [RIdIM item 6005]) exist for the composition. The painting later appeared as an engraving in the illustrated annual "The Gift" in 1843, where it accompanied a sentimental story about two friends. Although indebted to British models, particularly the popular genre scenes of the Scots painter Sir David Wilkie, Clonney included elements that make this painting recognizably an American scene, from the patchwork quilt thrown over the beer stand to the prominently displayed flag. In rural scenes such as this, Clonney often included images of African Americans dancing and playing the fiddle. These paintings helped establish the racist minstrel-show stereotype that idealized African-American life in the nineteenth century.

Iconclass

48CC7311
violin, fiddle - CC - out of doors
48CC7521
one person playing string instrument (bowed) - CC - out of doors
43C922
two men dancing as a couple

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violin [3573]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

6013