Very powerful painting [View all]

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Last edited Tue Jul 15, 2014, 08:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Painting: Watch Meeting - Waiting for the Hour, December 31, 1862

Oil painting by William Tolman Carlton depicts slaves waiting for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect. The original hangs in the White House, in the room where President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.


The painting, done in 1863 by William Tolman Carlton, shows a group of African American men, women and children and one white woman, waiting for the clock to strike midnight -- the hour that the Emancipation Proclamation would take effect. The focus of the painting is a white-haired African American man holding a watch.

The storied painting contains symbolic elements such as a watch, capturing the essence of waiting and time; an anchor and a cross, both symbols of hope; an American flag, to signify the new nation; and the title of the Emancipation Proclamation and date painted across a long chain that underscores the length of the painting, to symbolize freedom and broken chains of bondage.

http://www.examiner.com/article/waiting-for-the-hour-art-tells-pivotal-story-american-history