The Spy

Alternate Title(s)

She Drew Bridle Listening--There Was No Sound

Oil on canvas

1905

24 1/8 × 16 1/4 in. (61.3 × 41.3 cm)

2007.11.30

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard P. Brokaw, 2007

The Spy, depicting a female Civil War spy, first appeared in Harper’s Monthly in February 1904 to illustrate Robert W. Chamber’s story “Special Messenger.” Though aspects of the character resemble the life of Confederate spy Belle Boyd, Chambers’s unnamed character is fictional. As the story unfolds, we learn that the main character is carrying a message to Union officers and trying to evade Confederate soldiers in pursuit. Pyle’s illustration captures perfectly the wary mood of the subject as described by Chambers: “Sitting her worn saddle, sensitive face partly turned, she listened, her eyes sweeping the bit of open ground behind her. Nothing moved there.”

On View