<I>Robbing the Eagle's Nest</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1856
name: label: Created by
content: Robert S. Duncanson, American, 1821 - 1872
notes: label: Caption
content: Robert S. Duncanson was deeply influenced by the Hudson River School, an art movement founded by American landscape painter Thomas Cole. The Hudson River artists are best known for creating allegorical landscapes relating to national identity, exploration, and westward expansion.
label: Caption
content: Duncanson painted Robbing the Eagle’s Nest at the height of his career. The work reflects the popular 19th-century practice of collecting wild birds’ eggs. Duncanson’s decision to represent two men attempting and ultimately failing at collecting eggs from an eagle’s nest may have been viewed by his audience as an allegory. It referenced the 1854 debate over slavery in the new western territories following implementation of the Kansas Nebraska Act. This law abrogated the Missouri Compromise by allowing white male settlers in the new states of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for or against slavery.
label: Description
content: A view of the Ohio River Valley done in the American Romantic style of the Hudson River School. The painting features an eagle soaring by the face of a cliff. The inclusion of figures is rare in Duncanson's work.
place: label: Place made
content: Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1815-1861
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
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: 2009.13ab
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 on canvas , wood
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (unframed): 36 × 46 1/8 in. (91.4 × 117.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Storage: 142.2 × 167.6 × 33 cm (56 × 66 × 13 in.)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (framed): 46 1/4 × 56 × 3 1/8 in. (117.5 × 142.2 × 8 cm)