Frederic Edwin Church visited Labrador and Newfoundland in 1859. During the trip, he made sketches that he later incorporated into several paintings, including Aurora Borealis, begun in late 1864. An unusual natural phenomenon during the Civil War's final phase inspired Church. On December 23, 1864--closely following two important Union victories--millions of Northerners witnessed the aurora borealis. Many interpreted it as a sign of approaching victory. Church's masterpiece testifies to the event's symbolic power.

Courtesy of the National Museum of American Art, gift of Eleanor Blodgett