Pompeii

Robert S. Duncanson, Pompeii, 1855, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Richard Frates, 1983.95.158
Copied Robert S. Duncanson, Pompeii, 1855, oil on canvas, 21 x 17 in. (53.3 x 43.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Richard Frates, 1983.95.158
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Artwork Details

Title
Pompeii
Artist
Date
1855
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
21 x 17 in. (53.3 x 43.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Richard Frates
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — phenomenon — volcano
  • Cityscape — Italy — Pompeii
  • 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