Evening battle scene. Title’s lettering is “white print”. Seven large gunboats from left to right in foreground. Line on right recedes into background with six additional ships. Duplicate title (2004.D03.057 FAC #598) – differences are that this print, .058 is evening scene, .057 is daytime. And in this print, .058 only one window in far right gunboat is reddened.
Currier & Ives, responding to demands for more popular images, often reworked and reissued lithographs, such as this night-time scene of the Bombardment of Island Number. Here, the artist has hand-colored the print to create a night view. As the gunboats fire their cannons the otherwise night sky is illuminated. The billowing clouds of smoke provide a dramatic contrast to the darkened scene.
