The image depicts a detailed landscape viewed from a slightly elevated angle. Trees dominate the upper part of the image, obscuring the horizon. In the distance, a small chapel-like structure with an arched entrance can be seen, along with a stone pillar and cross nearby. The trees and stone surfaces are depicted with meticulous detail through an etching technique. The color palette is monochromatic, using various shades of gray to show light and shadow contrasts. A stream flows under a stone bridge close to the viewer. A figure walking towards the stone structure adds scale and human presence to the scene.
Read the visual description

The image depicts a detailed landscape viewed from a slightly elevated angle. Trees dominate the upper part of the image, obscuring the horizon. In the distance, a small chapel-like structure with an arched entrance can be seen, along with a stone pillar and cross nearby. The trees and stone surfaces are depicted with meticulous detail through an etching technique. The color palette is monochromatic, using various shades of gray to show light and shadow contrasts. A stream flows under a stone bridge close to the viewer. A figure walking towards the stone structure adds scale and human presence to the scene.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Woodland Chapel at Evening

Julius Albert Elsasser

Date
1859
Medium
pen and gray and black ink and wash on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 27.5 x 34.2 cm (10 13/16 x 13 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
2000.64.1
Credit line
Director's Discretionary Fund
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • religious
  • Baroque
  • German
  • Italy
  • landscape
  • Hermit
  • Monk
Provenance

Private collection, Munich; (sale, Ketterer Kunst Hamburg, 3 December 1999, no. 146); (Martin Moeller Kunsthandel, Hamburg); purchased 2000 by NGA.

Inscription

lower center in ink: Julius Elsasser / Rom 1859

NGA object ID 112155. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.