Kreuz bei Sonnenuntergang

Thomas Cole died early in 1848, at 47, with this canvas still unfinished on his easel. Cole had founded the Hudson River School and made his name on grand American wilderness, but in his last years he turned to openly religious pictures, a series he called The Cross and the World. This small painting sits right beside that project. A rough wooden cross stands on high ground, a bell tower off to the left, and beyond them a valley falls away toward mountains catching the last light. Because he never completed it, you can see straight through to how he worked: the underdrawing shows, and the orange ground he laid down is still bare across the lower part. The sun is almost gone behind the far ridge.