Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Ruined Church in the Tropics
(18th and 19th Centuries )
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.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
William T. Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2014 | American Artists Abroad: Works from the Permanent Collection . The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2001 | The American Artist as Painter and Draftsman. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1987 | American Drawings from the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 2/5/1987 | Treatment | mounted; re-housed |
Geographies
USA (Place of Origin)
Measurements
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)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1534