Cathedral at le Puy

Carroll Beckwith, Cathedral at le Puy, 1911, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.1
Copied Carroll Beckwith, Cathedral at le Puy, 1911, oil on wood, 13 3⁄4 x 10 1⁄8 in. (34.9 x 25.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.1
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Artwork Details

Title
Cathedral at le Puy
Artist
Date
1911
Location
Dimensions
13 3⁄4 x 10 1⁄8 in. (34.9 x 25.8 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums Description
oil on wood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture — religious — church
  • Cityscape — France — Le Puy
  • Architecture — religious — Le Puy Cathedral
Object Number
1974.69.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1974.69.1

Artwork Description

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame at le Puy was built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and was a major pilgrimage site in the late 1500s. James Carroll Beckwith and his wife made their own “pilgrimage” to France in 1911, with stops in Avignon, Nîmes, and le Puy. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917), 1999) He painted this scene on the spot one July afternoon and captured the fleeting summer light as it pierced the gray clouds and made the medieval rooftops glisten.