The Meeting of the Waters

The Meeting of the Waters
The Meeting of the Waters
(American, 1801-1848)

The Meeting of the Waters

Dateca. 1847
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 51 x 75 3/4 in. (129.5 x 192.4 cm) frame: 57 3/4 x 82 5/8 x 4 in. (146.7 x 209.9 x 10.2 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Suzette Morton Davidson to the Preston Morton Collection
Object number1979.19
Subject(s)
  • landscape
  • boat
  • river
  • trees, landscape
Collection
  • 19th century American
  • American
Sub-Collection(s)
  • Hudson River School
  • American
On View
Not on view
Label Text

It is thought that this might be one of the last paintings done by Cole, who tragically died from pneumonia at the age of 47. It may be unfinished, since earlier allegorical landscapes of the pilgrim’s progress typically included tiny figures and have a greater level of detail. Whatever the case, this is a ravishing example of Cole’s mature landscape style and his ability to infuse nature with a divine sublimity that his audience readily recognized. While there are no supernatural phenomena in this sprawling landscape, Cole intended for its natural iconography to be read symbolically; for example, the three trees at the center left are emblematic of the three crosses of Calvary, thereby hinting at the pilgrim’s possibility of immortality through Christ’s redemption. The opening lines of the twenty-third Psalm may have been the textual inspiration for this extraordinary painting:

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.


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1875-78
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c. 1900
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n.d.
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Thomas BANG
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The Best Children
Thomas LAWRENCE
ca. late 1820s
Landscape with Indians
Thomas BIRCH
1835
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