# Vesuvius and Pompeii

- By: Robert S. Duncanson (born Fayette, NY 1821-died Detroit, MI 1872)
- Date: 1870
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Paintings
- Dimensions: 10 x 15 5/8 in. (25.4 x 39.7 cm.)
- Culture: Italy
- Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph Agostinelli
- Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=7616)
- Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/3199498c014388eb6fa55080260638d8.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Robert S. Duncanson spent a significant amount of time in Italy, and painted several views of Pompeii. Pompeii's dramatic history and the lure of Mount Vesuvius's still violent potential brought many artists to the area in the nineteenth century. This image shows the remains of an amphitheater, with Vesuvius smoking in the background. Duncanson probably painted this scene from memory, placing different ruins together to create a compelling composition.