# View of Florence

**Thomas Cole** (American, born England,1801–1848)  
1837  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 125.4 x 186.7 x 9.2 cm (49 3/8 x 73 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.); Unframed: 99.5 x 160.4 cm (39 3/16 x 63 1/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961.39. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.39).

## About this work

Cole visited Italy in 1831 and made a small pencil sketch of this vista of Florence shortly before sunset. In his New York studio six years later, he transformed the drawing into this large oil painting, adding picturesque humans and goats to the foreground. Exhibiting View of Florence alongside a painting of the Catskill Mountains in New York in 1837, Cole set out to prove that he had mastered the very different landscapes of the Old and New Worlds.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Thomas Cole painted this in 1837, aged 36. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Cole](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-cole)

American, born England,1801–1848; born in Lancashire; died in Catskill, New York

Cole emigrated from Lancashire to the United States as a teenager and, largely self-taught, made his name in 1825 with views of the Catskill Mountains that launched what became known as the Hudson River School. Years in England and Italy deepened his ambitions, and he joined landscape to moral allegory in series such as The Course of Empire and The Voyage of Life. The Oxbow sets wild forest against cultivated valley. He lived at Catskill, New York, until his early death.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: United States
- The artist was 36
- Real size: about 39 × 63 in (100 × 160 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Hudson River School](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/hudson-river-school)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/641.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/641/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/view-of-florence-cma-136911).