  About the Artwork
  
  
  This painting shows an emotional moment in the kitchen of a farmhouse. At the center, a young man’s family arms him as he prepares to join the American Revolution. At the lower right, his wife balances their infant child with one hand and holds a printed Declaration of Independence in the other. That broadside, dated July 4, 1776, places the scene almost seventy years before Tompkins Matteson created this artwork.

When this painting debuted in 1845, Americans debated the lessons of the Revolutionary War. To some viewers, the artwork urged patriotic devotion and sacrifice. To others, it was a reminder of the fight to cast off British imperial control at a time when, paradoxically, the United States’ territorial ambitions led toward the impending Mexican-American War (1846 – 48).
  
  
  Title
  Spirit of &#039;76
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1845
  
  Artist
  Tompkins H. Matteson
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1813-1884
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Framed: 37 5/16 × 43 3/4 × 2 1/4 inches (94.8 × 111.1 × 5.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2017.59
  
  
  Copyright
  ----------
