Beschreibung:

Dennis Malone Carter (American, c. 1818-1881) Decatur Boarding a Tripolitan Gunboat Signed and dated "D.M. Carter/1853" l.r. Oil on canvas, 23 x 34 3/4 in. (58.5 x 88.2 cm), framed. Condition: Lined, scattered retouch to sky. N.B. This battle scene appears to be one of at least two versions made by Dennis Malone Carter depicting Lieutenant Stephen Decatur boarding a Tripolitan gunboat during the bombardment of Tripoli on August 3, 1804. A very similar but larger and more detailed version (43 x 59 inches, unsigned), painted by Carter either in 1841 or 1858, is part of the Navy Art Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, DC. Both compositions portray Decatur (lower right center) in mortal combat with a Tripolitan adversary. Created as a "history painting" recalling heroic events of The Barbary Wars, the flag at center is a fanciful misinterpretation of a flag in use by the Barbary Pirates. US Navy records reveal that the original owner of their painting believed Carter's work to be a copy after a painting by Alonzo Chappel (American, 1828-1887) purportedly in the Louvre, although this claim has not been verified, and no such work can be located currently on the museum's web site.