Moonlight on Mount Lafayette, New Hampshire

A night landscape of a broad valley beneath a pale moon half hidden by clouds. Two slender trees stand in the foreground above dark grasses, while layered hills fade into mist on either side. The soft, cool tones of watercolor and gouache give the scene a quiet, hushed atmosphere.

Look closer: A small figure or cart is faintly visible on the road at the left edge among the hills.

Artist

William Trost Richards

Date

1873

Medium

Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on gray-green wove paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

1688 × 1005 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of The Reverend E. L. Magoon, D.D., 1880