Niagara Falls—Table Rock by Moonlight

A moonlit waterfall pours over a great curved cliff of rock, its falling water catching a bright, misty light. Small figures stand on the overhang above and on the shadowed pool below, giving scale to the towering rock. The scene is rendered in dark washes with lighter highlights, suggesting a night view.

Look closer: A tiny figure stands on the rock ledge at the upper left, near the edge of the cliff.

Artist

Pavel Petrovich Svinin

Date

1811–ca. 1813

Medium

Watercolor, gouache, and sgraffito on white wove paper

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

1548 × 2079 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1942