Thomas Moran painted Rome, from the Campagna, Sunset in his Philadelphia studio in June 1867, shortly after from his second trip abroad. The time spent in Europe gave Moran the opportunity to study thoroughly the work of historic and contemporary artists and to travel in Italy. Moran produced several sketches within Rome proper, but it was his experience in the Campagna, the landscape south of the city, that would inspire a dramatic transformation in his work. Pre-dating Moran’s first trip to the American West by just four years, Rome from the Campagna, Sunset is a unique precursor to the open vistas and monumental expanses of the western landscapes that would be the hallmark of his career.