The Veteran in a New Field is an oil-on-canvas painting by the 19th-century American artist Winslow Homer. It is set in the aftermath of the American Civil War and is often interpreted as an emblem of postbellum American society. The painting depicts a farmer harvesting wheat in a field with a scythe. The farmer in the painting is identified as a former Union Soldier from his discarded jacket and canteen in the right foreground of the painting. This painting was one of several that Homer did on the American Civil War, including his previous works Home, Sweet Home and Prisoners from the Front. The Veteran in a New Field is a transitional painting in Homer's body of work. It comments on the postbellum return of soldiers to daily life and the history of death that they bring along with them. It uses biblical themes to comment on war and nature, while also alluding to stories from classical history.
Homer finished the painting in 1865, the concluding year of the American Civil War. The painting was donated by Adelaide Milton de Groot to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains today.
Description and background
This composition is among Homer's simplest, showing the veteran as the sole figure in a field of grain, holding a scythe. The only pieces of evidence that the figure is a Civil War veteran are the jacket and canteen in the lower right hand corner, in the downed wheat. The symbolic use of nature, formality, and expressiveness were all novel elements in Homer's work.
Homer employs a Rückenfigur (a figure seen from behind), which obscures the man's identity and allows him to stand more generally for any soldier that fought for the Union. The jacket and canteen, however, specifically belong to the division that Homer accompanied during his time covering the American Civil War.
Analysis
Death
One of the important aspects of the painting is the scythe the veteran holds. This scythe has invited comparison with the Grim Reaper, the famous harbinger of death. This emphasizes the farmer's past as a soldier, and war's connection to death. The presence of the veteran harvesting the wheat parallels the massive loss of life in the American Civil War and the "harvesting" of bodies that took place. The veteran's time at war, according to this interpretation, has prepared him for his time in the field, making him more successful at harvesting.
Additionally, the use of wheat as a crop is an important aspect of the painting's commentary on mortality. Wheat had historically been placed on coffins, connecting the crop with death. The veteran is surrounded by wheat, which is sometimes seen as a reminder that the soldier had been surrounded by death during his time at war. Alternatively, the presence of wheat may symbolize the North. Wheat is a northern crop, and was often used on patriotic images during the Civil War period. Additionally, during this time, the North was often said to be "as good as wheat," establishing a connection to the North.
The harvest and death had often been linked in art from earlier eras.
The Veteran in a New Field has also been interpreted as an elegy to Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated the year the painting was finished. The painting's focus on the North and Union, along with its melancholy tone have led art historians such as Nancy Rash to theorize that the painting itself was made in order to honor Lincoln and his legacy.
Biblical themes
The painting references multiple verses from the Bible. The New and Old Testaments contain the phrase "all flesh is grass," which gives the actions of the veteran a double meaning: the veteran is cutting down grass as he once cut down flesh in war, making him both a farmer and a killer.
The painting also references Isaiah 2:4, which speaks of peace after war. The verse calls for former soldiers to "beat their swords into plowshares" in order to no longer participate in war. This verse parallels the actions of the veteran in the painting, who has stopped participating in war with the end of the American Civil War and instead turned to farming. The veteran has turned in his sword for a scythe, a farming tool like the plowshare. The comparison to Isaiah 2:4 may therefore suggest a call for peace.