Parthenon at Night, Athens

Frederic Edwin Church, American, 1826–1900 · April 1869

Architecture and landscape sketch showing a nocturnal view of the Parthenon in Athens, artificially illuminated with red and green flares in celebration of the Prince and Princess of Wales visiting the city on April 21-22, 1869. Dark, rugged, and loosely rendered terrain ascends from the foreground to the middle distance, where the Parthenon is shown extending obliquely into the distance at left. Its ruinous facade is visible at right, illuminated in green light, while red light shines on the long colonnade at left. Above, a dark night sky lightens at right.