Adalbert Volck was a Baltimore dentist whose additional talents as an artist were channeled in producing a number of political prints reflecting his pronounced Southern sympathies. This copper engraving of a young woman in prayer is a case in point. Only on closer inspection does the viewer become aware that the woman is praying not in the comfort of her home but in a cave during the bombardment of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Volck was clearly communicating the idea that the Northern siege of the city was a barbaric act against innocent civilians.