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Source Description
Frederick Edwin Church studied landscape painting under Thomas Cole, a member of the Hudson River School. Church's unique approach to landscape painting aimed to give the viewer a window onto the beauty of the Americas. He combined precise botanical and geological observation with romanticism, drawing insight and direction from the scientist Alexander von Humboldt. Church wrote in a letter to Erasmus Palmer that Humboldt was able to "share the pleasure which a sensitive and contemplative spirit experiences in the presence of the creation… to make him feel more vividly the harmony of the physical forces." (Letter to Erasmus Palmer, July 7, 1869).The scene was probably taken from Ecuador or Colombia and would appear to refer to Church's trip to South America in 1857, two years before the date of this drawing (he also traveled there in 1853). It was formerly housed in one of William T. Walters' drawings albums.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
21470
label
Ruined Church in the Tropics
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
21470
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Ruined Church in the Tropics
description
Frederick Edwin Church studied landscape painting under Thomas Cole, a member of the Hudson River School. Church's unique approach to landscape painting aimed to give the viewer a window onto the beauty of the Americas. He combined precise botanical and geological observation with romanticism, drawing insight and direction from the scientist Alexander von Humboldt. Church wrote in a letter to Erasmus Palmer that Humboldt was able to "share the pleasure which a sensitive and contemplative spirit experiences in the presence of the creation… to make him feel more vividly the harmony of the physical forces." (Letter to Erasmus Palmer, July 7, 1869).The scene was probably taken from Ecuador or Colombia and would appear to refer to Church's trip to South America in 1857, two years before the date of this drawing (he also traveled there in 1853). It was formerly housed in one of William T. Walters' drawings albums.
provenance
William T. Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1859
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
drawings (visual works)
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
16.5
height
15.3
dimensionsRaw
H: 6 1/2 × W: 6 in. (16.5 × 15.3 cm); Mat H: 19 1/4 × W: 14 1/4 in. (48.9 × 36.2 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Signature and date] Lower right: F.E. Church. / Dec. 59
med
pencil on paper with Chinese white
creator_ids
4673
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
2160
2703
3271
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
d4c993ec01bb47e7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
8f5daa25ed9501f3
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
be1a91f2b9b0f6c7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no