Stonewall Jackson
Divine Guidance was inspired by a scene in the motion picture Gods
and Generals.
The MKunstler Studio Collection features superb signed and numbered, limited
edition fine art prints in a classic size designed to enhance smaller wall
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Painted 2002
Limited Edition Prints
Size: 11" x 9"
Overall Size: 15" x 13 1/2"
1150 Limited Edition Signed and Numbered, Issue Price $95, Release Date 2003
100 Artist Proofs Signed and Numbered, Issue Price $150, Release Date 2003
Giclée Prints on Canvas
Size: 14" x 11"
100 Limited Edition Signed and Numbered, Issue Price $250, Release Date 2003
10 Artist Proofs Signed and Numbered , Issue Price $395, Release Date 2003
Print with Leather-Bound Gods and Generals
150 Virginia Tech Edition Signed and Numbered, Issue Price $450, Release Date
2003
It was heart-breaking news, even for a man of war. General Thomas J. “Stonewall”
Jackson received the hard tidings at his headquarters near Fredericksburg, Virginia
early on the morning of March 17, 1863. Just the day before, the general’s headquarters
had been relocated from a winter campsite he had occupied for several months
at nearby Moss Neck Plantation. At the time, the owner of Moss Neck, Richard
Corbin, was serving elsewhere in the Confederate cavalry. Left at home on the
plantation was his wife, Roberta, and the couple’s five year-old daughter, Jane
Wellford Corbin - who was known affectionately as “Janie.”
General Jackson and Janie became friends. Jackson had an infant daughter back
home that he had not yet seen, and he found little Jane irresistibly delightful.
“She was very pretty and bright,” an officer would recall, “with a sweet and
happy face and fair, flaxen curls.” She came regularly to visit the famous commander
at headquarters, and Jackson would interrupt his duties to play with her. “She
would play there for hours,” an observer would recollect, “sitting on the floor
with a pair of scissors cutting paper and entertaining him with her childish
prattle.” Jackson normally kept the warm, affectionate side of his personality
to himself, and was known to fellow officers and troops as formal and reserved.
Officers and soldiers who held such a view of the general were stunned to find
him upon occasion that winter sitting on his headquarters floor, laughing and
playing with joyful little Janie.
When Jackson moved his headquarters to nearby Hamilton’s Crossing in preparation
for a spring offensive, he left Moss Neck with concern for little Janie. She
had contracted scarlet fever, but reports from the Corbin home seemed hopeful,
and the general expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery. A day after establishing
his new headquarters, however, Jackson received the awful news: his little friend
Janie had suddenly died.
Stonewall Jackson - the great and mighty warrior whose hammer-like blows had
driven the enemy from so many fields of fire - wept aloud. Then he unashamedly
knelt and took his burdens to the Lord in prayer. Such was his way. Within a
few months, it would also be time for Stonewall Jackson to “cross over the river….”
Mort Kunstler’s Comments:
One of the most heart-rending events in the wartime career of General Stonewall
Jackson came when the general received the news that little Janie Corbin had
died. She was a child he had befriended while in winter camp in 1862-63. When
news of the child’s death arrived at his newly relocated headquarters, Jackson,
the stern disciplinarian, burst into tears. Then he knelt in prayer, as was
his custom when dealing with difficult or important situations. One of his aides
could not understand why the great warrior could cry over one life after all
the deaths Jackson had seen in his army. The answer from another aide was: “I
think he is weeping for them all.”
This moving moment in Jackson’s life is authentically depicted in the motion
picture Gods and Generals, in which Stonewall Jackson is played to perfection
by actor Stephen Lang. As the official artist for the movie, I was privileged
to read the original screenplay, observe filming on the set, and to see a “rough
cut” advance version of the motion picture. My friend Ron Maxwell, who is the
director of Gods and Generals, captures this emotional event with such
expertise in the motion picture. I have long wanted to paint this scene, and
my goal is to capture the moment in my medium with the same level of artistry
that Mr. Maxwell has captured it in the film.
Jackson received the news about his little friend early in the morning, so
I concentrated on painting the long shadows of early daylight and put Jackson
in shade. This enabled me to have the lightest part of the painting, the bright
sunlight hitting the tent and flag, behind him to create a contrasting light
and dark pattern. The viewer’s focus is immediately on Jackson and the flag,
helping to tell the story. In all the dark times of his life - and there were
so many in that terrible war - Jackson always resorted to his faith. Jackson
has often been depicted in our day as a harsh and hard-hearted man, but in reality
he was quite the opposite. Although he indeed could be stern at times, he was
also a man of deep-felt emotions, genuine kindness and remarkable tenderness.
This is the side of Jackson that I see as he wept and prayed, and it is that
particular portrait of the Mighty Stonewall that I am seeking to convey in Divine
Guidance.
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Code: cw-272
