Approximately two dozen people gather around a man standing with his mouth wide open and holding up two objects in a scarlet-red structure on a horse-drawn cart in this horizontal painting. The people appear to all have pale skin and most are men. Near the center of the composition, the man in the cart wears a white robe over a black, high-collared garment and a tall charcoal-gray hat. A hatch on the red structure appears to be open, and he holds up what might be books or pamphlets. A ginger-brown horse stands behind him with its head bowed. In the crowd, the men wear black, brown, gray, dark blue, or olive-green clothing and hats. Two women are to the left. One wears a green gown with a pumpkin-orange shawl and a wide-brimmed bonnet. She faces away from us. She and two men talk near a stand where another man and woman sell food and drink. More people gather around a second stand or structure beyond this, and, in the lower left corner of the painting, a man with white hair and a hooked nose and chin sits by an open cart with a sign reading, “Bear O! Pi Aiggs.” A few men dance and others mill about to the right of the cart. Closer to us, one boy runs toward another as a soldier lies belly-down on the ground, holding a bayoneted rifle out toward a brown dog. The dog crouches with its mouth open. Beyond the dancers and onlookers, a field stretches back to wooded hills. In the field, more than a hundred people stand or march in lines. Lavender-tinged clouds pile up in the blue sky over the horizon, which comes about halfway up this composition.

Muster Day

Charles Henry Granger

Approximately two dozen people gather around a man standing with his mouth wide open and holding up two objects in a scarlet-red structure on a horse-drawn cart in this horizontal painting. The people appear to all have pale skin and most are men. Near the center of the composition, the man in the cart wears a white robe over a black, high-collared garment and a tall charcoal-gray hat. A hatch on the red structure appears to be open, and he holds up what might be books or pamphlets. A ginger-brown horse stands behind him with its head bowed. In the crowd, the men wear black, brown, gray, dark blue, or olive-green clothing and hats. Two women are to the left. One wears a green gown with a pumpkin-orange shawl and a wide-brimmed bonnet. She faces away from us. She and two men talk near a stand where another man and woman sell food and drink. More people gather around a second stand or structure beyond this, and, in the lower left corner of the painting, a man with white hair and a hooked nose and chin sits by an open cart with a sign reading, “Bear O! Pi Aiggs.” A few men dance and others mill about to the right of the cart. Closer to us, one boy runs toward another as a soldier lies belly-down on the ground, holding a bayoneted rifle out toward a brown dog. The dog crouches with its mouth open. Beyond the dancers and onlookers, a field stretches back to wooded hills. In the field, more than a hundred people stand or march in lines. Lavender-tinged clouds pile up in the blue sky over the horizon, which comes about halfway up this composition.

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
Charles Henry Granger
Date
1843 or after
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 55.9 x 83.9 cm (22 x 33 1/16 in.) framed: 68.3 x 97.2 x 8.6 cm (26 7/8 x 38 1/4 x 3 3/8 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • War and Military Both · 94%

    The title refers to a muster, and the image includes a soldier with a bayoneted rifle and numerous people arranged in lines across the field.

  • Crowds Both · 99%

    A large foreground gathering surrounds the cart, with additional groups extending across the background field.

  • Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 92%

    The scene includes vendors, conversation, dancing, children, and other communal activities in an outdoor setting.

  • Rural Life Both · 97%

    The event takes place in an open field bordered by trees and hills, with a horse-drawn cart and rural surroundings.

  • Landscapes Both · 95%

    The field, wooded hills, distant mountains, and expansive sky occupy much of the composition behind the gathering.

  • Modes of Transportation Both · 95%

    A horse-drawn cart is the central vehicle, with another cart or vendor structure visible at the left.

  • Food Both · 91%

    A left-side stand visibly offers food and drink to people gathered around it.

  • Movement Visual · 94%

    Running children, dancing and gesturing figures, marching lines, and the active poses of the foreground figures create a visibly animated scene.

Visual Qualities

  • Earth Tones Visual · 91%

    The palette is dominated by browns, ochers, muted greens, and grays, punctuated by vivid red and orange accents.

Medium and Techniques

  • Painting Metadata · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art classifies the work as a painting in oil on canvas.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The catalog explicitly identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 97%

    The catalog dates the work as “1843 or after,” placing it in the nineteenth century.

Source & rights

Charles Henry Granger. Muster Day. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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