<I>The Hunted Slaves</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1862
name: label: Created by
content: Richard Ansdell, English, 1815 - 1885
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Man or Men
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Woman or Women
notes: label: Description
content: This oil painting depicts a fugitive enslaved man and woman beset by three mastiff dogs in a marshy landscape. On the right side of the painting are two human figures who face left across the painting to the dogs.The man stands in a half-crouch between the dogs and the woman, wielding a hatchet in his upraised right hand. Dangling from his clenched left wrist is a pair of manacles, with one cuff broken open. He wears a pair of faintly patterned brown trousers to mid-thigh, and has a red sash around his waist. His body has numerous scars and a round brand or tattoo on his left shoulder. The woman is half-crouched behind him knees bent, both arms raised to shoulder height, palms faced outward as she peers over the man's shoulder. She wears a sleeveless, loosely draped soiled white top, and a brown striped skirt tucked above her knees. Her hair is drawn back and she has small hoop earrings. The dogs are on the left side of the painting, with one of the dogs lying wounded between the two groups of figures. The scene takes place in an area of trampled tall grass with grey water in the background and a livid red horizon. In the bottom right corner there is a striped snake twining up a mossy dead log.
place: label: Place depicted
content: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Antislavery
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Fugitive enslaved
label: Topic
content: Self-liberation
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Movement
content: Anti-slavery movements
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2009.34ab
objectType: label: Type
content: oil paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public Domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: oil paint on canvas , wood
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (unframed): 36 × 60 in. (91.4 × 152.4 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (framed): 48 1/4 × 72 7/16 × 3 1/4 in. (122.5 × 184 × 8.2 cm)