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Home > Museum Shop > Maps & Prints > The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac (print)
The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac (print)
 
Price: $30.00
This depiction of the Monitor-Merrimac engagement, the first battle between armored vessels, which occurred on March 8 and 9, 1862, was completed about 1880 by Xanthus Russell Smith.
Smith (1839–1929) was an American marine painter best known for his illustrations of the American Civil War. Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of painters William Thompson Russell Smith and Mary Priscilla Wilson, and was educated at home by his mother, who also gave him drawing lessons. Between 1851 and 1852, he accompanied his parents and sister Mary on a tour of Europe, and after returning home, he studied chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, before enrolling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Smith served in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War, helping to maintain the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina, but saw little action. He sketched hundreds of ships in a variety of media, including pencil and oil paint, both for official purposes and for his own pleasure. He did not actually participate in most of the battles he illustrated; instead, he generally consulted those who were present at the engagements.
Reproduction of the original oil painting. Print measures 11" x 14".
What's related:
• Browse books on the history of ironclads
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