Isola Bella in Lago Maggiore

Sanford Robinson Gifford

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gifford visited Isola Bella on Lago Maggiore, Italy, in 1856 and again twelve years later, painting the site numerous times and refining his vision of the scene. In late July 1868, the artist spent several days in the region, recording of one of them: “It was a perfect day, not too hot. I have come to the conclusion that this part of Maggiore is the finest of all the Italian Lakes.” In this painting, based on an oil sketch “of a sunset on Lake Maggiore,” Gifford extended the width on both sides to include the profiles of mountains distributed along the water, with the filmy light of sunset between them.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art