Thomas Cole - Course Of Empire Destruction
Size Guide
Choosing the right size
Every painting on our site comes in a few standard sizes, shown as buttons above the Add to Cart button on each product page. Here's a quick way to picture how each one fits your wall.
- Small / desk & shelf scale (around 12x24 to 16x24 inch): Great above a desk, nightstand, or as part of a gallery wall grouping with other pieces.
- Medium (around 16x36 to 24x36 inch): A strong single statement piece above a sofa, bed, or dining table when paired with the furniture below it.
- Larger formats: Where offered, these work best as the focal point of a room with 8+ ft ceilings or a long wall.
As a rule of thumb, wall art should span roughly two-thirds the width of the furniture it hangs above (for example, over a 6 ft sofa, look for a piece 4-5 ft wide, or a grouped arrangement that adds up to that width).
Which format should I choose?
Poster Art Print is printed on thick satin photo paper with a 1/8" border, shipped rolled — our most affordable option, ready for you to frame yourself.
Canvas Art Print is printed on poly-cotton canvas with a 2" white border, sealed for durability, and shipped unstretched and rolled — ideal if you want to frame it yourself or have it stretched locally.
Gallery Wrapped Canvas is stretched over a solid wood frame and arrives ready to hang, no framing required — the closest thing to walking a piece straight out of a gallery.
Each product page shows the exact printed dimensions for every size we offer that painting in, along with photos of it displayed on a wall for scale.
About this painting
The Course of Empire: Destruction is the fourth painting in Thomas Cole's five-part Course of Empire cycle, completed in 1836, showing the same imagined city seen thriving in the earlier panels now consumed by war as invaders storm across a collapsing bridge beneath a smoke-choked, blood-red sky. It forms the dramatic climax of Cole's allegory of the inevitable fall of civilizations, painted for New York collector Luman Reed and unveiled with the rest of the series in 1836. The painting is held today in the collection of the New-York Historical Society.
- Created: 1836
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Collection: New-York Historical Society
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- Includes a 2" white border for added versatility.
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Gallery Wrapped Canvas Art Print
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