American Art Collaborative

Light played a prominent role in many of Edward Bannister's works, reflecting a deep Christian faith that sustained him throughout his life. He found comfort in his long walks in the country in search of views that would make good paintings. His desire to capture God's presence in nature was shared by numerous nineteenth-century landscape artists, who followed the advice of America's first great landscape painter, Thomas Cole, to be more than "mere leaf painters." In this painting, a small patch of sunlight falls directly on the couple and their horse, who appear dwarfed by the dramatic scale of the trees and clouds behind them.