# Mount Vesuvius at Midnight

- By: Albert Bierstadt (American, born Prussia \[now Germany\], 1830–1902)
- Date: 1868
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 62 x 77 x 9 cm (24 7/16 x 30 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 42.6 x 60.7 cm (16 3/4 x 23 7/8 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Gift of S. Livingstone Mather, Philip Richard Mather, Katherine Hoyt (Mather) Cross, Katherine Mather McLean and Constance Mather Bishop
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1949.541)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1949.541/1949.541_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.