Hills

Hills are a common feature of the landscape, and have been represented in art since ancient times. The Metropolitan Museum has a number of artworks depicting hills, from various cultures and periods. These artworks provide a glimpse into how different cultures have viewed and represented hills over time.

Mountainous Landscape at Tivoli

    This sketch may depict the hills to the north of the road into Tivoli from Vicovaro.
    The sketch is likely related to the view Denis painted of the latter town (2003.42.22) that is underscored not only by its size but by its sensibility.
    Denis defines the recession of landscape elements - from the field in the foreground to the line of trees and the escarpment beyond - mostly in green tones, with contrasting pink in the sky.

Odalisque in Grisaille

    This is an unfinished repetition, reduced in size and much simplified, of the celebrated Grande Odalisque of 1814 (Musée du Louvre, Paris), an imagined concubine in a Middle Eastern harem.
    The painting was central to Ingres's conception of ideal beauty, and its influence was bolstered by his longevity:Ingres continued to paint nudes like this one as late as the 1860s, by which time he had trained hundreds of followers.
    Paintings in shades of gray - en grisaille - were often made to establish variations in tone as a guide to engravers of black and white reproductive prints, but the intended purpose of this work remains uncertain.

Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania

    This is an oil study for Cropsey's monumental "Valley of Wyoming" (66.113).
    The view is from a promontory called Inman's Hill, looking north across the valley, which is intersected by the Susquehanna River.
    In contrast to the large, elaborately detailed canvas, the present work was painted broadly and quickly.

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

    This panoramic view was commissioned from Frère by the New York collector Catharine Lorillard Wolfe by 1880, when it was first described as being in her possession.

The Great Pyramid, Giza

    Dauzats traveled to Egypt with a French diplomatic mission in 1830 and painted this striking view of the Great Pyramid soon after he returned to Paris.
    In his written account of the journey (Quinze jours au Sinaï, 1839, co-authored with Alexandre Dumas), the artist marveled at the "lizard-like" physical dexterity required to scramble over the ancient monument's massive stone blocks to reach the summit.
    Dauzats traveled to Egypt with a French diplomatic mission in 1830 and painted this striking view of the Great Pyramid soon after he returned to Paris.

Lions in a Mountainous Landscape

    This painting is an extraordinary example of Gericault's spontaneous handling of paint.
    The painting is unfinished, and was left in a state known as an esquisse, or sketch.
    The painting was known only by means of a replica (Musée du Louvre, Paris) until it was acquired by the Museum.