"The 'Kearsarge' at Boulogne," Édouard Manet, 1864.

Y'all know Manet by now.

The USS Kearsarge was a Union ship in the American Civil War, which sank a Confederate raider, the CSS Alabama, at the famous Battle of Cherbourg on June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France. Many were able to watch the battle from the shore.

he Alabama had pulled into Cherbourg for repairs, and as it was in a neutral port, the Kearsarge simply waited out at sea, effectively blockading the ship. The Alabama eventually pulled out to attack, escorted by a French naval ship to ensure any battle occurred outside the harbor. The Union ship quickly sank the Alabama, and survivors were picked up by French boats and a private British yacht...which took their evacuees quickly to England.

Manet didn't witness the battle himself, but read accounts of it and saw the ship anchored. He did paint the battle, and later this portrait of the ship, along with some fishing boats; these were his first depictions of current events.

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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