The American Civil War:
Through Artists’ Eyes
Teacher Resources: 8th Grade
John Rogers (American, 1829–1904), The Council of War. Painted plaster, 1881.
Gift of Mrs. William H. Hill, 1953.163
About this Resource:
This resource will allow you to lead your students through close looking exercises, enabling them to
describe, analyze, and interpret what they see in the sculpture The Council of War (1881) by John
Rogers (American, 1829–1904) and as an extension, the photograph President Lincoln on the Battlefield of Antietam (October, 1862) by Alexander Gardner (American, born Scotland, 1821–1882).
This approach to looking at art is based on the Art of Seeing Art™ method created by the Toledo
Museum of Art. It is worksheet-based and will help you and your students explore works of art in the
Museum’s special exhibition The American Civil War: Through Artists’ Eyes, on view at the Museum
from April 3 to July 5, 2015. Location: Galleries 28 & 29
How to use this resource:
• Print out the document for yourself.
• Read through the document carefully as you look at the image of the work of art.
• When you are ready to engage your class, project the image of the work of art on a screen in
your classroom. With the image on the screen, ask the students to complete the worksheet.
• When all the students have finished, discuss their answers as a group.
This exercise is meant for use in the classroom. There is no substitute for seeing the real work of art in
the exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Common Core
Standards
Connections to the Common Core State Standards and Ohio’s New Learning Standards:
The Common Core State Standards and Ohio’s New Learning Standards were designed to help teachers
provide knowledge and foster skills in students that are necessary in order for them to successfully
navigate the contemporary world. The following Common Core State Standards and Ohio’s New
Learning Standards, relating to Visual Literacy, are covered in this lesson.
Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations
and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Ohio’s New
Learning
Standards
Ohio’s New Learning Standards: Social Studies
Theme: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration through Reconstruction
Strand: History
Topic: Civic Participation Skills
Civic participation embraces the ideal that an individual actively engages in his or her community, state or nation for the common good. Students need to practice effective communication skills including negotiation, compromise and collaboration. Skills in accessing and analyzing information are essential for citizens in democracy.
Grade 8 Content Statement 9: Different Perspectives on a topic can be obtained from a variety of historic and contemporary sources. Sources can be examined for accuracy.
Topic: Historical Thinking and Skills
Historical thinking begins with a clear sense of time–past, present and future–and becomes more precise as students progress. Historical thinking includes skills such as locating, researching, analyzing and interpreting primary and secondary sources so that students can begin to understand the relationships among events and draw conclusions.
Grade 8 Content Statement 1: Primary and secondary sources are used to examine events from multiple perspectives and to present and defend a position.
About the Exhibition:
This exhibition depicts major events of the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of the artist.
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the end of the war, The American Civil War: Through Arists’
Eyes features approximately 50 objects drawn from the Toledo Museum of Art collection and local
institutions and collections, including a monumental painting of the Battle of Cold Harbor by Gilbert
Gaul that depicts Battery H, an artillery unit that included many soldiers from Northwest Ohio.
Elements of Art
Elements of Art
Line: A continuous mark with height and width, but no depth, made with a moving point.
Shape: An enclosed area defined by other elements of art, such as line or color.
Color: The full visible light spectrum (rainbow) and black and white, plus all possible combinations.
Space: The area around or within objects; the arrangement of components on the surface.
Texture: Refers to the tactile quality of an object, whether real or perceived.
Principles of
Design
Principles of Design
Close Looking
Close Looking
Look closely at the sculpture The Council of War for at least three minutes. Take your time,
observe the details and explore the image beyond your first impression.
Emphasis: The point or points of focus in a composition.
Balance: Relates to the sense of visual equilibrium in a work of art; how components of an image are arranged around a focal point.
Proportion: The relative scale of objects and shapes in an image to one another and to the viewer.
Harmony: The way the elements work together to create an overall appealing effect.
Rhythm: The path along which the eye follows a regular or repeating arrangement of motifs (such as
colors or shapes) around a composition.
Movement: The way shapes, lines, colors and forms direct the eye around a composition or interact
with each other to suggest motion.
Variety: The use of different, often contrasting, elements that provide visual interest.
Unity: The wholeness that is achieved through the effective use of the Elements of Art and Principles
of Design.
Objects & People
Lines
List what you see in the sculpture. In the column on the left, list the people
and objects that you see. Use the additional columns to describe the lines,
shapes, textures, and space the artist has used to represent them.
Describe
Shapes
Textures
Space
Analyze
Analyze
Once the students have completed listing everything they have observed in the sculpture by close
looking, begin to ask simple analytical questions that will help to deepen their understanding of the
sculpture. This will be a class discussion.
Background
Information
Look closely at the posture of Lincoln, Grant, and Stanton. What is each of the men doing with his body? What can you infer about them based on your observation?
Pay special attention to the eye contact of each of the men. Where are they looking and what does this tell you about the interaction between them?
How did the artist portray President Lincoln in this work?
Background Information:
The sculpture titled The Council of War was created by American sculptor John Rogers in 1881. Rogers
sculpted an imagined meeting between General Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), President Abraham
Lincoln (1809–1865), and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814–1869) concerning the Civil War. It
was his first sculpture to portray nationally-known individuals.
Secretary of War Stanton wrote to Rogers: “…you were especially fortunate in your execution of the
figure of President Lincoln. In form and feature it surpasses any effort to embody the expression of that
great man which I have seen.” Lincoln’s son Tad, agreed, declaring it the best likeness of his father that
he had ever seen.
Interpret
Interpret
Interpretation brings close looking, describing, analyzing, and background information together to aid
in better understanding the work of art. Write your answers on the lines below.
Secretary of War Stanton wrote to Rogers: “…you were especially fortunate in your execution of the figure of
President Lincoln.” What details of the sculpture do you feel may have led Stanton to make this statement?
This sculpture was created several years after Lincoln’s death. Do you think the artist would have portrayed
Lincoln differently if he had created it while Lincoln was still alive? Explain.
Imagine if the artist chose to depict this subject matter as a painting. Do you think it would have the same
impact as the sculpture? Why or why not?
Extension
Activity
Extension Activity
Using the photograph, President Lincoln and the Battle-field of Antietam and text from Gardner’s
Photographic Sketch Book of the War, repeat the process:
Close looking | Describe | Analyze | Interpret
Compare and contrast your description, analysis, and interpretation of the photograph and text with the
sculpture, The Council of War.
Plate 23
President Lincoln on the Battle-field of Antietam. Antietam, Maryland. October, 1862
Photographed by Alexander Gardner
On the 1st of October, 1862, two weeks after the battle of Antietam, President Lincoln visited the
Army of the Potomac, encamped near Harper’s Ferry, in Maryland. He was accompanied on his trip by
Major General McClernand and Staff, Colonel Lamon, the Marshal of the District of Columbia, and
Mr. Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The President reached General Sumner’s
headquarters, on Bolivar Heights, at Harper’s Ferry, on Wednesday, occupied the afternoon in reviewing
the forces at that position, and spent the night at General Sumner’s quarters. On Thursday morning he
recrossed the Potomac, and was met by General McClellan and Staff, who conducted him during that
the following day over the scenes of the recent battle, and in reviewing the various quarters, occupying
much of the time in private conversation with him. In this conversation, it is said, that when the
President alluded to the complaints that were being made of the slowness of the General’s movements,
General McClellan replied, “You may find those who will go faster than I, Mr. President; but it is very
doubtful if you will find many who will go further.”
On Saturday, the President set out on his return home, accompanied by General McClellan as far as
Middletown, but on the way, riding over the battle-field of South Mountain, the leading incidents of
which, the scenes of particularly desperate conflicts, the names of the Corps and officers engaged, &c.,
were pointed out and described by the General, as he had previously done those of the great battle
of Antietam; in all of which the President evinced a deep interest. The President then proceeded to
Frederick, where he was received by the people with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of respect,
and reached Washington in a special train at ten o’clock at night.
Caption taken from original text, Plate 23, Vol. I,
Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War
(Washington: Philp & Solomons, 1865-66)
Image Credit: Alexander Gardner (American, born Scotland 1821–1882),
President Lincoln on the Battle-field of Antietam. Albumen print photograph, 1862.