In addition to his scenes of everyday life and portraits of people, Johnson created images of historical events and figures from works of literature, drama, and music. For example, “Carry Me, and I’ll Drum You Through” was inspired by an incident from the Battle of Antietam, 1862, and Membership Vote at the Union League Club, May 11, 1876, recorded a contentious meeting in which he participated much later. His Marguerite, Cosette, and Minnehaha are personifications of fictional heroines from novels and poetry. His Boy Lincoln represents both the future United States president and the archetypical American youth who, with determination and hard work, could succeed. Johnson rendered several of these imaginative images as both paintings and drawings. These literary and historical works evince both his personal interest in those subjects and his awareness of their popularity with the broad public. —AM

MacGibeny, 2022: This is a theatrical subject. The Duke of Aranza was a character in The Honeymoon, a comedy by British playwright John Tobin (or Tobyn); after their wedding, he pretends that he is actually a less prosperous man to test the affection of his new wife, Juliana. The play was published as early as 1805.
Eastman Johnson letter to Andrew Warner, Corresponding Secretary of the American Art-Union, August 3, 1849 (quoted in Patricia Hills, The Genre Paintings of Eastman Johnson, 1977, p. 31): "I am not aware whether the Art-Union is in the habit of purchasing drawings in black and white merely & I venture to send these more from my present necessity than from any disposition to exhibit attempts in what is generally considered an unsatisfactory and imperfect method of making pictures. The price for the drawing of 'The Sweeps' which I have set at $50.00 for that from [sic] 'The Honey Moon' $75.00."
Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art Union, Vol. II, 1953: "A crayon drawing; the duke of Aranza and his wife."