Frederic Church sketched his first view of Cotopaxi in 1853 on a tour of Columbia and Ecuador. Describing the volcano later, he declared it “one of the most majestic and awe inspiring views I ever beheld in either hemisphere.” This canvas is a reduced version of the painting in Detroit and may have served as the model for an engraving (never realized). Church commissioned Boutelle to do the copy, but much dissatisfied with the results, largely repainted it himself.
