Making the Splice between the Shore End and the Ocean Cable 1861 - 1871

"Making the Splice between the Shore End and the Ocean Cable" (1861–71) by Robert Charles Dudley (1826–1909) depicts a crucial moment in the laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable. This maritime scene, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, shows workers meticulously connecting the cable to the shore, a feat of 19th-century engineering that revolutionized communication. The painting's realism captures the tension and importance of this historical event.