Archibald Willard painted The Spirit of '76, the famous American patriotic painting displayed during the 1876 Centennial.
Willard created the painting around 1875 in Wellington, Ohio. It was originally titled Yankee Doodle and depicts three Revolutionary War figures marching with a fife and drum. The work was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, where the United States celebrated the hundredth anniversary of independence.
The painting became widely known as The Spirit of '76 after its exhibition and subsequent reproduction. Its popularity grew substantially through chromolithographs and touring displays, even though early critical reactions were mixed. The original painting is displayed at Abbot Hall in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
The painting is sometimes confused with later patriotic images or with Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware. Willard’s work is distinct in subject and composition: it presents ordinary-looking Revolutionary figures, including a drummer and fifer, rather than a single famous historical episode.