“Carp”e Diem. It’s Friday!
Joe Freedman Collection of Philadelphia Trade Cards. 1870-ca.1900. P.2015.55.
Eastman Johnson (1824-1906)
“The Girl I Left Behind Me” (1872)
Oil on canvas
Located in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, United States
The painting’s title refers to an old Irish song that became a popular regimental ballad during the Civil War. Johnson’s viewers might have recalled the lyrics:
My mind her full image retains
Whether asleep or awaken’d
hope to see my jewel again
For her my heart is breaking.
mementomoriiv