Il Penseroso (painting)
Il Penseroso (painting)
Il Penseroso is an 1845 oil-on-canvas painting by Thomas Cole, the British-American artist who founded the Hudson River School. The title is Italian and means “the thinker.” The painting is currently in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California. It measures about 82.23 cm high by 122.08 cm wide.
Artist’s background and creation
Thomas Cole grew up in Lancashire, England, and moved to America with his family in 1819 at age eighteen. His experiences in America and his travels in Italy, including a visit in 1831–32 where he saw ancient ruins, shaped his vivid, color-rich landscapes. Il Penseroso was commissioned in 1844 by Charles M. Parker (along with a companion painting, L’Allegro) and was based on Cole’s sketches from Lake Nemi in Italy. Both paintings were completed in 1845 and shown at the National Academy of Design in spring 1846.
This page was last edited on 29 January 2026, at 12:16 (CET).