Cleveland Museum of Art

Mount Vesuvius at Midnight

Date

1868

Medium

oil on canvas

Culture

America

Department

American Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

For centuries, artists and tourists have been attracted to Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples. While living in London in 1868, Albert Bierstadt heard that the volcano was active once again, and rushed immediately to Italy. It is not certain that he actually saw an eruption, although the resultant painting presents a convincing image of spewing lava and ash. This painting is a smaller version of a much larger canvas that is now lost.

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