The Heart of the Andes

after Frederic Edwin Church

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a landscape view from an elevated position. Reddish-brown and dark green trees and plants surround a waterfall at the bottom of the painting, with white water cascading into a reflective pool. Beyond, a dense forest leads to rolling hills and tall, reddish-brown mountains. There are more mountains on the left, although these are white. In the center, there are distant shapes in the forest that may be buildings. Near the bottom left, a small ridge overlooks the waterfall, with a small white cross standing upright on it. The blue sky above is filled with swirling gray clouds that seem to touch the top of the mountains on the right. The color palette is warm, dominated by browns and greens, with the blue sky in the upper left.