# View of Cotopaxi

- By: Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900)
- Date: 1857
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 62.2 × 92.7 cm (24 1/2 × 36 1/2 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of Jennette Hamlin in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Dana Webster
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76571)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/33fc29fc-097b-576b-c9e6-c3352d9d3f15/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

View of Cotopaxi brings together in visual form scientific, religious, political, and cultural ideas in the mid-19th century. Inspired by German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt’s concept of ecological interconnectedness, Frederic Edwin Church traveled to South America to meticulously study the tropical landscape. The artist produced at least ten finished paintings of the Ecuadorian volcano, this one completed in his studio just before his second visit to the region. For Church and other Christian viewers, nature, with all its creative and destructive wonders, was evidence of divine power. The painting likewise reflected an imperialist vision, as US government officials eyed Latin America as a site for territorial expansion and conquest.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0