Why it matters
The Confederate raider Alabama sinks after battle with the Union cruiser Kearsarge off Cherbourg in 1864. Manet did not witness it, but painted it from press reports and exhibited it just weeks later.
Did you know?
- The battle was fought on 19 June 1864.
- Barbey d'Aurevilly wrote that 'the sea ... is more frightening than the battle'.
- Marguerite Charpentier bought it in 1878.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama (CC BY-SA 4.0).
