Art, literature & history
Mount Vesuvius at Midnight
1868
- Dating
- Exact year
- Held at
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 62 x 77 x 9 cm (24 7/16 x 30 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 42.6 x 60.7 cm (16 3/4 x 23 7/8 in.)
- Collection no.
- 1949.541
- Attribution
- By the artist
- Image rights
- CC0 1.0License details
Albert Bierstadt. Mount Vesuvius at Midnight. The Cleveland Museum of Art. CC0 1.0. Compressed full-frame reproduction.
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this artwork
Mount Vesuvius at Midnight — Albert Bierstadt. 1868.
Medium: oil on canvas. Dimensions: Framed: 62 x 77 x 9 cm (24 7/16 x 30 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 42.6 x 60.7 cm (16 3/4 x 23 7/8 in.).
Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.
For centuries, artists and tourists have been attracted to Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples. While living in London in 1868, Albert Bierstadt heard that the volcano was active once again, and rushed immediately to Italy. It is not certain that he actually saw an eruption, although the resultant painting presents a convincing image of spewing lava and ash.
Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.
Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.