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Point of View: Homers The Veteran in a New Field

WINSLOW HOMER, The Veteran in a New Field, 1865, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York

Bibliography
Cikovsky, Nicolai Jr. A Harvest of Death: The Veteran in a New Field. In Winslow Homer:
Paintings of the Civil War, edited by Marc Simpson, 83-101. San Francisco: Bedford
Arts, 1988.
Rash, Nancy. "A Note on Winslow Homer's Veteran in a New Field and Union Victory."
American Art, no. 9 (1995): 88-93. Accessed February 28, 2015.
Wilson, Christopher Kent. "Winslow Homer's The Veteran in a New Field: A Study of the
Harvest Metaphor and Popular Culture." American Art Journal, no. 17 (1985): 3-27.
Accessed February 28, 2015.

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Winslow Homer has undoubtedly created numerous pieces of notoriety. The Veteran in a
New Field, being one of his numerous pieces, is one of great interest, curiosity, and debate.
Although it has been said by some, that it does not belong to the canon of Homers celebrated
works,1 its been argued and debated over its importance and significance. In this debate of
discussing The Veteran in a New Field, there are more or less theories describing a deeper and
hidden meaning; while some support the idea of a simpler or no message at all. The idea of a
deeper, hidden, or symbolic meaning, however, is greatly supported by Cikovsky, Wilson, and
Rash. In fact, Wilson, Cikovsky, and Rash all come to a similar conclusion with minor
differences; although each refers to Cikovskys theory, they also conclude with an additional
theory based on their findings.

Points of View
Cikovsky perceives a deeper meaning in, and delves deep into, Homers The Veteran in a
New Field from the Civil War. In studying this piece, he found it to be unmistakably
symbolic.2 He further discusses the symbolic references, based on the choice in composition by
Homer, such as the reference to the imagery and story of Cincinnatus. This story of Cincinnatus
is also a story of a farmer, like that in Homers painting, who left his farm to assume the
dictatorship of Rome and defend it against its enemies, then later relinquished power and office
to return to his farm and the occupations of peace.3 Its through the imagery of a military jacket,
that proves the man in Homers painting to be a veteran, and the actions of a farmer that also
support his argument of connecting it back to Cincinnatus in The Veteran in a New Field.
Cikovsky then also notices The Veteran in a New Field refers to the Old Testament Passage from
the Bible, Isaiah 2:4, which alludes to the actions of plowing and pruning in agricultural

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production.4 With the allusion of Cincinnatus and the passage from the Bible in mind, Cikovsky
then notions the purpose of Homers painting as a statement of Republican virtue and
pacification posed by the end of the war.5 In other words, Homer embodies the step towards a
peaceful period following the war. Another important symbol that Cikovsky finds important in
Homers The Veteran in a New Field is the double meaning of the act of the veteran attending
the fields, both positive and negative. In the sense that the veteran is harvesting the exaggerated
abundance of his crop is seen by Cikovsky as a positive celebration to the end of the war.6 On the
other hand, it was a sense of the veteran using a single-bladed scythe that Cikovsky observes as
another meaning, which may be that of death.7 Like him, Wilson also notices some of the similar
meanings and symbols that he found.
Like Cikovsky, Christopher Kent Wilson also refers to, briefly, the story of
Cincinnatus. As he notes about the veteran in Homers painting, Like a modern day
Cincinnatus, the former warrior, now farmer, has surrendered his sword with its slashing and
chaotic strokes from the more gentle and restorative rhythms of the scythe.8 He goes on to say
that it is also meant to emphasize the peaceful transition following the war and how the veteran
symbolizes the democratic government and the virtues of the republican life.9 He also
discusses Homers depiction of a new birth of freedom10 following the war. In this new found
freedom, Wilson explains one interpretation surrounds the largely overgrown harvest and its
sheer size. This, he explains, is that symbolic expression for this new era of peace and plenty.11
However, when the viewer focuses their attention to the lower right foreground, they will see the
canteen with a Union insignia; its because of this that Wilson feels the subject is a peaceful
transition from military to civilian life, and therefore symbolic of democratic government. 12
Another important fact that Wilson also argues is The Veteran in a New Field as a combined

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metaphor for the negative and positive sides of the end of the war.13 While Wilson has some
great points, Nancy Rash goes into more depth about the harvest and wheat playing a symbolic
role in the painting.
Although she mentions her approval of Cikovskys and Wilsons interpretations, Nancy
Rash explores the concept of wheat as a symbol from Union iconography.14 She also accepts
the idea that it may represent a Union victory15, especially considering the abundance and
quantity. How she clarifies that it is specifically representational of a Union victory has to deal
with the fact that the painting includes parts of a uniform that are associated with the Union
army; more specifically, Rash indicates them as a cast-off uniform and the emblazoned
canteen.16 To support her argument that wheat plays a role in the symbolic meaning of the
Union victory, she compares the wide range and use of the image of wheat in other works from
the Civil War time. On two Civil War envelope illustrations, she shows the images content
carrying a symbol of America with images of the wheat.17 However, at the bottom of each
illustration there is also a statement that shows this direct correlation between wheat, as a
positive mark or sign, and the Union; one of the illustrations says, The Union is as Good as
Wheat.18 While Nancy Rash further observes the symbolic reference of wheat, it should also be
recognized that she shares common ideas with Wilson and Cikovsky.
Both Nancy Rash and Christopher Wilson recognize and note their support of the notion
that Homer is alluding to the similar story of Cincinnatus, as noted by Cikovsky, to evoke similar
meaning and emotions in the viewer. They also agree this allusion further carries Homers
message about the end of the Civil War. While all these points of view contain similar agreement
about the symbolic nature of the wheat and the direct actions of the veteran himself, Cikovsky is
the only one that mentions its correlation to Isaiah 2:4. Rash is also the only one to look more

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into the image of wheat and not its relevance as Union iconography. I personally identify The
Veteran in a New Field with showing this struggle of peaceful transition from war back to
everyday life as all observed points of view agree upon. Its Homers use, I feel, of the
questionable and conflicting illustration of the action, in which the veteran is either death or
harvesting, that does give that sense of struggle in transition following the Civil War. Whichever
way this painting is looked at, Homer has managed to convey great emotion through symbolism,
the composition, and imagery.

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Notes
1

Cikovsky, Nicolai Jr. A Harvest of Death: The Veteran in a New Field. In Winslow Homer:
Paintings of the Civil War, edited by Marc Simpson, 83. San Francisco: Bedford Arts,
1988.

Cikovsky, 84.

Cikovsky, 86.

Cikovsky, 86.

Cikovsky, 86.

Cikovsky, 87.

Cikovsky, 88.

Wilson, Christopher Kent. "Winslow Homer's The Veteran in a New Field: A Study of the
Harvest Metaphor and Popular Culture." American Art Journal, no. 17 (1985): 9.
Accessed April 8, 2015.

Wilson, 11.

10

Wilson, 4.

11

Wilson, 10.

12

Wilson, 11.

13

Wilson, 12.

14

Rash, Nancy. "A Note on Winslow Homer's Veteran in a New Field and Union Victory."
American Art, no. 9 (1995): 89. Accessed April 8, 2015.

15

Rash, 91.

16

Rash, 88.

17

Rash, 90.

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18

Rash, 90.