The Rescue, God Save My Child

Date1891

DimensionsSight: 20 1/2 × 25 3/8 in. (52.1 × 64.5 cm)

Object numberN0119.1961

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextThis is a quill pen and ink and watercolor painting. In the mid-nineteenth century calligraphy was a rather popular form of art on the "folk level." Most every modern collection of folk art includes several examples. The subjects most commonly chosen were deer, horses, and the human figure. Calligraphic drawing was considered "the ultimate step for the schoolmaster or expert pupil." Many calligraphic drawings were so well executed that the artist would proudly sign his, "All With A Pen." Penmanship was considered an important part of education in the 19th century, and calligraphy was taught in both public schools and private courses. Teachers made large scale drawings as a means of advertising their skill and pupils did likewise to demonstrate their recently acquired ability. This calligraphic drawing depicts a fanciful and imaginative scene, taken from an unknown source, in which a woman valiantly defends her child against an attacking eagle with the aid of a horse. The artist, a skilled and experienced professor of this medium, used the defensive position of the horse as the main composition of the drawing and the vehicle for his display of draftsmanship. The mother's complete confidence in the horse is expressed in her defiant stance as the child cowers in her skirt.

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