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Analysis Of The Battle Of Calville By Howard Pyle

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The painting “The Battle of Nashville” by Howard Pyle (1853-1911) was painted in 1906 and is now hanging in the Governor’s suite of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul (mprnews.org). Figure 1 Image from Minnesota Capitol Pyle’s painting of “The Battle of Nashville” depicts the horrific scene of the charge of the 9th and 5th Minnesota Infantry Regiments across a cornfield by using dark colors, showing all the bodies down, and keeping the background of the painting bare. The cornfield that the battle took place in is near Shy Hill which we can see in the background of Pyle’s painting. Pyle’s combination of dark colors, having all the bodies down, and the bare background of the painting depicts the sadness and darkness of the Minnesota Civil War. …show more content…

At the top of the painting, Pyle uses smoke to make the picture look gloomy. The smoke is spreading over some of the soldiers that are located at the back of the painting and making it hard to see them. The smoke is covering most of the background of the painting, so you see nothing but smoke and a hill in the background. All of that smoke covering the background of the painting and some of the soldiers make the painting look really depressing. The rest of the painting that is not covered in smoke is painted in very dark colors. The combination of the hazy smoke and dark colors make the painting of the Minnesota Civil War gloomy. The second way that Pyle depicted gloominess in war in his painting is by having bodies lying all over the painting. If you look at his painting you will see several bodies lying there covered in the corn from the field. To me, you can’t do anything gloomier than having dead bodies lying all over your painting. Pyle is showing how gloomy, sad, and tough a war can be by having all of those soldiers lying dead all over his painting about the Minnesota Civil

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