The Defense of Rorke's Drift, January 22, 1879 1880

Curator: The colors are astonishing, they almost jump out. Such energy and intensity right from the get-go. It's like witnessing chaos bottled in oil paint. Editor: Indeed, it’s an impressive scene. Here we have Elizabeth Thompson's “The Defense of Rorke's Drift, January 22, 1879”, created in 1880. A stirring depiction of a real-life military event during the Anglo-Zulu War. The image shows the defense of the British depot at Rorke's Drift with British soldiers resisting attacks by Zulu warriors. Curator: I feel a bit like I’ve stumbled onto the movie set of some old epic! There is such romanticism. And the details... are those real piles of earth and wood they're fighting behind? Editor: Thompson clearly aimed for realism here, within a framework of romantic historical painting. Genre painting too. She paints a dramatic scene which became deeply iconic and embedded within the public's consciousness of empire. The British press very enthusiastically championed stories like the defence of Rorke's Drift. It created public heroes at a time of real turmoil and political angst in Britain. Curator: You know, even though it's this whole clash of cultures, almost overwhelming in scope, she focuses my eye in on individual faces, the raw terror and bravery shining through the dirt. It really elevates the experience and transcends this depiction into the purely human and the tragic. I guess a battle never really feels fair. Editor: What I find compelling is Thompson’s masterful weaving of the personal into the political. These soldiers become symbols of both national pride, a propaganda piece as such. A closer look however reminds us about individual sacrifice. It’s very clear here how images and how history become instruments for very diverse aims and how this tension is something worth pondering. Curator: Makes you think, doesn’t it? Art is a loaded gun. Thanks for walking through this painting with me. Editor: My pleasure, let’s consider how imagery works and works upon us!