Views in the Navy Ordnance Yard, Washington, D.C., June

Mathew B. Brady

National Gallery of Art

This is a photograph of a large outdoor storage area for naval torpedoes or bombs, with a two-story brick building and a single-story structure visible. The image depicts an orderly arrangement of numerous large cylindrical objects, aligned on the ground in parallel rows. The setting is an exterior yard, presumably part of a military or naval installation. In the foreground, the munitions are stacked neatly, each one resting on wooden cradles. The ground surface is bare and appears dusty, with paths perhaps made for transport. The buildings, one brick and the other a lighter construction, serve as a backdrop with windows and doors visible. Trees on the periphery provide a natural element within the industrial landscape.