Emblems of the Civil War 1888

Alexander Pope painted "Emblems of the Civil War" to assemble symbols of conflict and nationhood. A rifle, pistols, and sabers intermingle with a torn American flag, evoking not only the war's violence but also the ideals at stake. The crossed sabers, a common motif since antiquity, remind me of the Roman gladius, emblems of power and justice but, here, of division. Consider the flag itself, ripped and hung, a symbol that has traveled through time, from ancient Roman vexilla to medieval banners, each bearing the weight of collective identity. The antlers suggest nature and the hunt. These horns, emblems of power and virility in ancient cultures, now serve a morbid purpose, displaying instruments of war. It's as though the collective memory of violence finds expression, a recurring nightmare where symbols of pride become harbingers of suffering. The echoes of history remind us that no symbol is ever truly still; each carries the weight of its past, ever shifting, ever evolving.