The Cable Fleet Leaving Ireland, July 1858

A wide bay under a sky of tall white clouds, with three masted steamships anchored at left and center and a sailing ship at right. Dozens of rowboats and tenders crowd the water in the foreground, and a crowd of onlookers stands on a wooden pier at the lower right beneath a red flag. The soft washes and touches of gouache give the scene a luminous, hazy atmosphere.

Look closer: A small flock of birds skims the water at the lower left, near the rowboats.

Artist

Robert Charles Dudley

Date

1865–66

Medium

Watercolor over graphite with touches of gouache (bodycolor)

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3938 × 2711 px

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