Interior of One of the Tanks on Board the Great Eastern: The Cable Pas

A large, dim interior of a ship's hold, its floor crossed by lines of cable that workers guide across the boards. In the center, a tall timber framework rises above a circular wheel-like mechanism, and a dozen men in shirtsleeves and work clothes move around it. Soft watercolor washes and white highlights give the vast space a misty, industrial atmosphere.

Look closer: A small signature or inscription is faintly visible in the lower left corner.

Artist

Robert Charles Dudley

Date

1865–66

Medium

Watercolor over graphite with touches of gouache (bodycolor)

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3527 × 2560 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cyrus W. Field, 1892