Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack

Alexander Charles Stuart (1831–98)

1866–96

Oil on canvas

Gift of Sewell C. Biggs; 1993.13

Known primarily as a marine artist and ship portraitist, Alexander Stuart was an officer in the navy during the Civil War. Stuart settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, and became involved with the Wilmington, Delaware, art scene through local philanthropist and art collector, Henry Lea Tatnall (1829–1885). Stuart depicted several examples of a well-known battle between two ironclad warships, the Monitor and the Merrimack, outside the Chesapeake Bay.