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Object Timeline

1917

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2024

2025

  • You found it!

Drawing, Passing Shadow and Rainbow

This is a Drawing. It was created by Frederic Edwin Church. It is dated ca. 1853 and we acquired it in 1917. Its medium is graphite on brown paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

This object was donated by Louis P. Church. It is credited Gift of Louis P. Church.

Its dimensions are

Sheet: 10.2 x 19.8 cm (4 x 7 13/16 in.)

It is inscribed

Recto: Inscribed in graphite ? with figures as follows at top right: 1 green 4 red / 5 purple / 2 yellow 6 blue / 3 orange; at bottom: Every object visible through the rainbow / This effect was peculiar / wonderful and glorious / At 2 wonderful intensity of light gradually fading / general effect not like a rainbow being more like a burst / of splendid fires, and bearing a resemblance to the Aurora Borealis / in the peculiar radiations -- explained by the streaks of rain / the blue and green (as well as the other colors) were intense.

Cite this object as

Drawing, Passing Shadow and Rainbow; Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900); USA; graphite on brown paper; Sheet: 10.2 x 19.8 cm (4 x 7 13/16 in.); Gift of Louis P. Church; 1917-4-22

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18195911/ |title=Drawing, Passing Shadow and Rainbow |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=7 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>