Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California

Looking Down the Yosemite Valley, California is an 1865 painting by the German-American painter Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902).

It was Bierstadt's first large-scale Yosemite picture, a subject for which he would become well known. It presents a view of one of America's most scenic spots. Based on sketches made during a visit in 1863, Bierstadt paints the valley from a vantage point just above the Merced River, looking due west with the prospect framed by El Capitan on the right, and Sentinel Rock on the left; the spire of Middle Cathedral Rock is visible in the distance.