The Natural Bridge, Virginia
Frederic Edwin Church, 1852
Virginia stone, bent like a doorway God left open. The span, before the war split the ground under it. Tourists already came. He made them feel late.
About this work
Frederic Edwin Church painted The Natural Bridge, Virginia in 1852, after visiting the landmark with his friend and patron Cyrus Field, who later went with him on his seven-month journey to South America. The great limestone arch fills the upper part of the canvas, with a figure resting in the shaded gorge beneath. Natural Bridge, in Rockbridge County, is a natural arch 215 feet high with a span of 90 feet, carved by Cedar Creek, a small tributary of the James River; it is what remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel the creek once ran through. Thomas Jefferson bought the bridge and 157 acres around it from King George III in 1774 for 20 shillings and called it "the most Sublime of nature's works". In 1791 he urged the painter John Trumbull to go and paint it, rather than leave it to "some bungling European" to misrepresent. By the time Church went, he had been reading Alexander von Humboldt, whose Views of the Cordilleras compared the Natural Bridge with similar landmarks in South America. The painting, 28 × 23 inches, was given to the University of Virginia by Thomas Fortune Ryan and is in the Fralin Museum of Art in Charlottesville.
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum · Wikipedia: Natural Bridge (Virginia)
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 8,692 × 10,532 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 57 × 70 in
- Sizes
- Small (17 × 20 in) · $100 · 511 ppi
Medium (20 × 24 in) · $150 · 435 ppi
Large (30 × 36 in) · $300 · 290 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of The Natural Bridge, Virginia?
Here. The Natural Bridge, Virginia is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (17 × 20 in) for $100, Medium (20 × 24 in) for $150 and Large (30 × 36 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for The Natural Bridge, Virginia?
The file is 8,692 × 10,532 px, so every size is sharp: even Large (30 × 36 in) prints at 290 ppi. Choose Large (30 × 36 in) for a large wall; Small (17 × 20 in) suits a narrower space.
Is it legal to print The Natural Bridge, Virginia?
Yes. The Natural Bridge, Virginia is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
