"Using a powerful diagonal composition echoed in smaller intersecting diagonals of lights and darks, Trumbull depicts the moment when General Montgomery expires in the arms of Major Matthias Ogden. Before him on the snow-covered ground lie the bodies of his two aides-de-camp, Captains Jacob Cheeseman and John MacPherson. Lieutenants John Humphries and Samuel Cooper and Lieutenant Colonel Donald Campbell surround the two central figures in a protective semicircle, while an Oneida Indian chief, Colonel "Joseph Louis," defiantly raises his tomahawk in the direction of the shots. Three figures in the left foreground, Major Return Johnathan Meigs and Captains Samuel Ward and William Hendricks, gesture in shock at the sight of their dying general. With spontaneous, fluid brushwork and a palette of rich, glowing colors, Trumbull conveys the excitement of the battle, and the intense drama surrounding the tragic death of Montgomery."--Yale University Art Gallery eCatalogue
Description:
Title, artist, and printmaker from the British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1854,0812.195., Description based on imperfect impression; sheet trimmed within plate mark with loss of statement of responsibility., and Engraved after a painting now held in the Yale University Art Gallery.
Publisher:
Published London Jany. the 1st 1794 as the Act of Parliament directs by A.C. de Poggi, No. 91 New Bond Street
