Thomas ColeAmerican, 1801–1848The Cross in the Wilderness
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Cross in the Wilderness” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1983.2.2
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Thomas Cole
The whole life1825–1848
89 paintings at the National Academy of Design
From the founding of the National Academy of Design in 1825 until Cole's death, 89 of his paintings were shown at its exhibitions.
1841–1842
Second journey: the Grand Tour and Etna
Cole was in Europe again, mainly in England and Italy, and in 1842 set out on the Grand Tour to study the Old Masters. Mount Etna struck him most: he made several sketches and at least six paintings of it, the best known being “A View of Mount Etna from Taormina”.
1843
His daughter Emily is born
His daughter Emily Cole (1843–1913) became a botanical artist who worked in watercolour and painted porcelain.
1844–1846
Frederic Edwin Church studies with Cole
Church learned his teacher's method of sketching from nature and then developing an idealised, finished composition; Cole's influence is especially plain in Church's early paintings.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![[Das Schiff des Glücks; The Ship of Fortune; La fortune contraire], Rembrandt, 1633](https://diglib.hab.de/varia/haum/rembrandt-v3-4595/max/000001.jpg)
![[Das Schiff des Glücks; The Ship of Fortune; La fortune contraire], Rembrandt, 1633](https://diglib.hab.de/varia/haum/rembrandt-ab3-0134/max/000001.jpg)
