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According to the
Metropolitan Museum’s web site
(http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/view1.asp?dep=2&full=0&item=09%2E95),
“This picture was inspired by Church's second trip to South America in the
spring of 1857. Church sketched prolifically throughout his nine weeks travel
in Ecuador, and many extant watercolors and drawings contain elements found
in this work. The picture was publicly unveiled in New York at Lyrique Hall,
756 Broadway, on April 27, 1859. Subsequently moved to the gallery of the
Tenth Street Studio Building, it was lit by gas jets concealed behind silver
reflectors in a darkened chamber. The work caused a sensation, and twelve to
thirteen thousand people paid twenty-five cents apiece to file by it each
month. The picture was also shown in London, where it was greatly admired as
well.”
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