Pompeii

Robert S. Duncanson, Pompeii, 1855, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Richard Frates, 1983.95.158
Robert S. Duncanson, Pompeii, 1855, oil on canvas, 2117 in. (53.343.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Richard Frates, 1983.95.158
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Artwork Details

Title
Pompeii
Date
1855
Dimensions
2117 in. (53.343.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Richard Frates
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — Italy — Pompeii
  • Landscape — phenomenon — volcano
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — column
  • Architecture Exterior — ruins
Object Number
1983.95.158

Artwork Description

Robert Duncanson's patrons in Cincinnati sponsored his first trip to Europe in 1853, allowing him to participate in a rite of passage for American artists. He compared his skills with those of European painters and claimed, "Of all the landscapes I saw in Europe...I do not feel discouraged." Duncanson imagined Pompeii around the time of its first excavation in 1747, showing men in eighteenth-century costume admiring the ruins and searching for buried treasure. Such fanciful depictions were popular among nineteenth-century American patrons, who made the ancient city at the foot of Vesuvius a stop on their grand tours.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (1 item)

Teresita Fernández, Nocturnal (Horizon Line), 2010, solid graphite on panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.38A-C, © 2010, Teresita Fernández
Nocturnal (Horizon Line)
Date2010
solid graphite on panel
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

Sheila Hicks, The Principal Wife Goes On, 1969, linen, silk, wool and synthetic fibers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1977.118.2A-F
The Principal Wife Goes On
Date1969
linen, silk, wool and synthetic fibers
Not on view
Jack Lenor Larsen, Remoulade, 1956, linen, cotton, rayon, silk, wool, jute, nylon, and metallic threads, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1983.103, © 1956, Jack Lenor larsen, Inc.
Remoulade
Date1956
linen, cotton, rayon, silk, wool, jute, nylon, and metallic threads
Not on view