The Veteran in a New Field

Painted in 1865, this quiet scene by Winslow Homer carries far more weight than it first appears. We see a man with his back to us, working alone in a golden field of wheat, swinging a scythe to bring in the harvest. The title gives away the secret. This is a Civil War veteran, and the discarded jacket and canteen on the ground at the right tell us he has just come home from the fighting. He has traded his weapon for a farm tool and returned to peaceful work.

Homer painted this just months after the war ended and after President Lincoln was assassinated. The single blade of the scythe is a deliberate choice, as it calls to mind the figure of the Grim Reaper and the staggering loss of life the country had just endured. The endless golden wheat suggests hope and renewal, a nation ready to grow again. Homer was known for his honest, straightforward style, and here he uses a simple image of one man at work to capture the feelings of an entire country trying to heal.