War Games, from the series The Angel of Mercy

Eleanor Antin was a key figure in the Conceptual art move-ments of the 1970s, known for performances, installations, and films that delve into history in order to interrogate present political issues. Here, the artist masquerades as Florence Nightingale, the English founder of modern nursing who organized care for wounded soldiers in the Crimean War (1853–56). This image, which playfully imitates the composition and tone of actual photographs taken during the war, originally accompanied a satirical solo performance that the artist staged in 1977. The performance critically examined the role of women as caregivers, which Antin felt was “forced on us whether we wanted to or not, and probably the major role assigned to us by history and religion.”