Chimborazo

Frederic Edwin Church journeyed to South America in 1853 and 1857, following in the footsteps of Alexander von Humboldt, the leading naturalist of the generation before Charles Darwin. The resulting paintings, including Chimborazo and Heart of the Andes (now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), embody Humboldt's theory of the interdependence of natural systems. Although committed to scientific accuracy, Church presents a composite view of Chimborazo based on his own extensive field studies. Church takes the viewer on a virtual trip from the torrid, tropical Ecuadorian rainforest in the foreground to the temperate grasslands in the center to the frigid, ice-capped peak of Mount Chimborazo, which hovers over the scene. Rather than simply transcribing nature, Church wished to convey the whole experience of Ecuador to the viewer.