Emigrants' farewell

This painting is a symbolic representation of emigration and does not portray a historically documented event. It shows men, women and children of different social classes and ages sitting in a rowing boat. They are on their way out to a sailing ship flying an American flag. Most of them appear worried and apprehensive as they contemplate the future and their impending voyage. The work was probably inspired by "Crossing at Schreckenstein", painted in 1837 by Ludwig Richter (1803–1884). The two paintings show a remarkable similarity in their grouping of figures on the boat and in the landscape featuring a castle in the background. There is also very little difference in their use of metaphor. The ship, tossing in the waves, evokes the uncertainties and vicissitudes of life.