This painting is by far the most interesting painting that we have discussed this week in class. It reveals so much through the elements that are used. The atmospheric perspective from which Frederic Church is painting from helps the viewer discover what he is trying to reveal. The state and condition of the Parthenon gives a deeper perspective from the painting. The colors, materials used and structure gives the painting great volume. The texture of the painting looks smooth because of the colors and material used. The material in this painting embraces the class of objects used in this painting. As we learned in the Prown article, the material in this painting excludes nature and focuses on the man-made object-the Parthenon and how it was affected by man. The emphasis on the Parethenon was illuminated through the light that shines upon it. There is a diagonal line of shadow that divides the painting from darkness and light that reveals the primary focus of this painting. Although we can see the broken pieces of the Parthenon in the painting, it is evident that what Church is trying to portray is the importance of the monument. There is a distinctive reason as to why most of the broken pieces are in the dark side of the painting. Church is eloquently and distinctfully disclosing how the Parthenon has braced the darkness of history.

As we learned in the Prown article, surviving historical events is illuminated well in paintings that are of old times. Objects that were constructed in the past are indeed objects that rest in the present. Church firmly makes evident of the preceding claim of historic objects by silently painting a person in the background of the painting. It also shows how the Parthenon survived historical events but not to its full entirety. The significance of this painting can be portrayed through the evidence that this painting truly survived the test of time at the time this painting was painted. There is a great historical value of this painting an it is shown through the atmospheric perspective of the painter. The painting was likely painted during the period of Civil War in the United States which gives reason as to why he painted from the perspective he did. It is no irony why he chose to paint from the perspective he did because the painting relates directly to the current state of the United States: politcally and socially. The United States government was derived from antient Greece, and antient Greece was the biggest political power at the time the Parthenon was in one piece. At the time of this painting, the Civil War plagued the United States and we were destroying and scaring ourselves to a point that couldn't be rebuilt just as the Parthenon was partially destroyed. This idea and relation is painted through the Parthenon. If we compare the Parthenon and the United States' government during the time of the Civil War, the two are almost identical; the Parthenon and United States being these two dominant structures that have been negatively effected by man, however despite the "self destruction" from man, they both remain to shine vividly through light.