The Parthenon, 1871. Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900). Oil on Canvas, 44 1/2 x 72 5/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of Maria DeWitt Jesup, from the collection of her husband, Morris K. Jesup, 1914.
When looking at Frederick Edwin Church’s painting The Parthenon, one is reminded of the fact that artists have used other works of art as subject matter for several centuries. The Parthenon is part of seven masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on view until September 2010 at the New Britain Museum of American Art.
The Arch of Constantine with the Collosseum in the Background, ca 1742 - 45. Giovanni Antonio Canal (called Canaletto) (1697-1768). Oil on canvas, 32 1/4 x 48 in. Getty Center, 70.PA.52.
During the Grand Tour era, many Grand tourists would buy paintings by artists like Canaletto. He was famous for his views or vedute of Venice and is said to have used a camera obscura to achieve accurate perspectives in his paintings, yet he would often change his sketches corresponding to his own artistic vision. This can be seen in his painting of the Collosseum where he moved the arch of Constantine so that a beautifully framed view of the Collosseum is created. (more…)
