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This is a black-and-white photograph of a war-torn landscape with a fallen figure on the ground. The scene is characterized by rough terrain of rocks and muddy, uneven earth. In the center of the image, a figure is lying flat among the grass and dirt, with a gun laying on the ground next to them. They have light skin, dark hair, and a dark jacket open to show a white shirt. There are many shapes in the background that could be other bodies or the remnants of clothing or belongings.
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This is a black-and-white photograph of a war-torn landscape with a fallen figure on the ground. The scene is characterized by rough terrain of rocks and muddy, uneven earth. In the center of the image, a figure is lying flat among the grass and dirt, with a gun laying on the ground next to them. They have light skin, dark hair, and a dark jacket open to show a white shirt. There are many shapes in the background that could be other bodies or the remnants of clothing or belongings.

National Gallery of Art · Photograph

A Sharpshooter's Last Sleep, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Alexander Gardner

Date
July 1863
Medium
albumen silver print
Dimensions
image: 17.7 × 22.9 cm (6 15/16 × 9 in.) support: 30.6 x 41.8 cm (12 1/16 x 16 7/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Accession number
2006.133.73
Credit line
Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon and Patrons' Permanent Fund
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CPH
Original NGA record Wikidata

Portfolio and series

Series
Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Washington: Phillip and Solomons, 1866

Subjects and terms

  • American
  • albumen silver print
  • United States
  • landscape
  • Death
  • Soldiers
  • American Civil War
Provenance

Mary and Dan Solomon; purchase and gift to NGA, 2006.

Inscription

in letterpress, across bottom under image on support: Alex. Gardner, Photographer, Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1866, by A. Gardner, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia. 511 7th Street Washington. / A Sharpshooter's Last Sleep, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. / No. 40. July, 1863.; on verso, by unknown hand, upper left in graphite: AP. 37; bottom center in graphite: AG/1188

NGA object ID 136369. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.