An epic naval engagement took place in international waters off the coast of Cherbourg, France, in June 1864--the battle of the USS Kearsarge and the Confederate raider CSS Alabama.

The battle was depicted by famed French artist Edouard Manet
before he visited the Kearsarge in Boulogne, France.

In celebration of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's recent
acquistion of the Manet painting, the museum will present an exhibition: "Manet and the American Civil War: The Battle of the USS 'Kearsarge' and the CSS 'Alabama'". The exhibition opens June 3rd of this year. The exhibit includes other maritime paintings by Manet in Boulogne in the mid-1860s, and runs through August 17th in New York.

After being shown in New York, the exhibit will travel to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. For more information call (212) 570-3951.

Fleece.