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The fourth should be a tempest,—a battle, and the burning of the city—towers falling, arches broken, vessels wrecking in the harbour. In this scene there should be a fierce chiaroscuro, masses and groups swaying about like stormy waves. This is the scene of destruction or vicious state. ¹

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1. The mountain becomes more visible again, asserting the return of nature.

2. Nature echoes the chaos of the empire's destruction in the form of storm clouds, wind, and fire.

3. The porch of the Doric temple becomes the base for a catapult, indicating that the violence of civilization has corrupted art and religion.

4. The bridge that once supported the decadent ruler collapses under the weight of the armies.

5. The ships that once promoted trade and exploration now burn and sink in the throes of war.

6. The sculpture of an armed warrior is modeled after another work in the Louvre: the Borghese Gladiator.

7. A mother mourns the loss of her son. Theodore Géricault's painting Raft of the Medusa (1819) may have inspired this detail.

8. A woman fleeing from a soldier throws herself into the harbor, indicating the collapse of civilization into sexual violence.

9. The painter's signature on the pedestal suggests Cole's alliance with the arts.

Compare

John Martin, Pandemonium, mezzotint, 1825, 10 1/10 x 14 2/5 in. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. View in Scrapbook

The English artist John Martin created mezzotint illustrations for John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Martin's Pandemonium was the basis for Robert Burfurd's painting of the same name, which Cole saw in London in 1829. Cole's Destruction shows similar compositionalelements, such as the grand architectural scheme, the large figure in the corner, and the swirling clouds. ¹

Process

This preliminary sketch demonstrates that Cole first planned for a large fountain in the form of a lion to anchor the right side of the composition. In the completed version of Destruction, a headless statue, based on the Borghese Gladiator, replaces the fountain. This substitution makes for a much more troubling depiction of all-out warfare. (Note the lion fountain has become a tiny detail in the lower right corner.) Comparisons of preliminary sketches with Cole's completed pictures indicate just how hard he worked to create the right visual effects for his dramatic series. The artist in fact struggled in every phase of his work on The Course of Empire. In 1836, he pleaded with Durand to send him a plaster model of a "little fighting gladiator" to aid him in composing this figure. ¹ Examples of Cole's plaster models survive in the Cedar Grove collection.

Works

1. Thomas Cole, First Sketch for the 4th Picture of the Course of Empire, pen and brown ink over pencil on paper, c. 1835-6, 7 ¼ x 10 7/16 in. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund, 39.352.View in Virtual Gallery

2. Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Destruction, oil on canvas, 1836, 39 ½ x 63 ½ in. Collection of The New-York Historical Society, 1858.4.

Words

If men were not insensible to the beauty of nature the great works necessary for the purposes of commerce might be carried on without destroying it, and at times might even contribute to her charms by rendering her more accessible; but it is not so. They desecrate whatever they touch. They cut down the forests with a wontonness for which there is no excuse, even gain, & leave the herbless rocks to glimmer in the burning sun. ¹

For my part I have been engaged in Sacking & Burning a City ever since I saw you & I am well nigh tired of such horrid work. I have about finished the City & a picture at the same time & only want you and & Mr. A up here now to say what sort of a hand I am at Destruction. I DID believe it was my best picture but I took it downstairs to day & I got out of the notion. ²

Find it here.