Bringing in the wounded under the white flag

Place Europe: France
Accession Number ART02656.003
Collection type Art
Measurement sheet: 17.6 x 25.5 cm; image: 15.4 x 24 cm
Object type Work on paper
Physical description pen and ink on paper
Maker Kearton, William Frederick
Date made 1916
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Depicts a First Aid team of five soldiers, attending to a wounded soldier on the edge of muddied crater on the battlefield, under the protection of a white flag. The wounded soldier has been put onto a stretcher; he has one arm in a sling and propps himself up with the other arm so he can drink from a flask being held by one of the First Aid officers, while another officer bandages his left knee. Two other figures reflect the two extremes of the situation: one officer sitts on the rim of the crater smoking a cigarette which gives the scene a sense of ordinariness, while another stands looking over his soldier toward the explosions in the middle distance, a reminder of their close proximity to the frontline. To the right of this group is an officer holding out the white flag, his feet ancle-deep in the mud.