Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Object Details

Artist

William H. Johnson, born Florence, SC 1901-died Central Islip, NY 1970

Luce Center Label

In Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, a line of fashionable angels welcomes a man to heaven. Having arrived by a horse-drawn chariot, he greets them with open arms. In the Bible, the prophet Elijah was carried to heaven by a chariot of fire at the end of his life. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is also the title of an African American spiritual of slave origins. The song is attributed to Wallace Willis, a slave from Oklahoma; his inspiration was the land beyond the Ohio River. Like other songs of resistance, the spiritual uses encoded language that would have been familiar to slaves. "Home" could mean either heaven or land of freedom. The lines "I looked over Jordan and what did I see/Coming for to carry me home/A band of angels coming after me" refers to the town of Ripley, Ohio, which was a station on the Underground Railroad. The town is located on a hill across the Ohio River, a difficult point of the journey to freedom. At this juncture, the fugitive slaves had to wait for helpers to arrive before they could continue. The artist, William H. Johnson, chose a subject that would have been familiar to African Americans, fashioning traditional religious symbols into an image meant for this community.

Luce Object Quote

"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind unto heaven." 2 Kings 2:11, King James Version

"Swing Low, sweet chariot

Coming for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariot

Coming for to carry me home

I looked over Jordan and what did I see

Coming for to carry me home

A band of angels coming after me

Coming for to carry me home"

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation

ca. 1944

Object number

1983.95.52

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

oil on paperboard

Dimensions

28 5/8 x 26 1/2 in. (72.6 x 67.2 cm)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Landscape\river

Figure group\female

African American

Animal\horse

Figure male\full length

Architecture\vehicle\carriage

Religion\angel

Record ID

saam_1983.95.52

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c555d783-251a-4008-820d-e9e44efcdcbf