Explore Thomas Cole

The combined feelings of awe, pleasure, and fear associated with viewing a dangerous landscape, such as the summit of a mountain or a large waterfall. The viewer becomes entranced by the infinity of nature and forgets himself in the contemplation of the landscape; only afterwards does the viewer realize that he has experienced the sublime. Cole often tried to communicate this feeling in his landscape paintings: see for example, The Clove, Catskills (1827).