Google Lens entry:

Here we see the ruins of a Greek and Roman theater in the ancient town of Taormina, Sicily. Classical civilization had symbolic resonance for many Americans, who viewed their country as being founded upon the democratic ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Haseltine's views not only served as a pictorial souvenir of these popular tourist destinations but also inspired those who could not afford to take the “Grand Tour” of Europe.

Born in Philadelphia, William Stanley Haseltine traveled to Germany to study painting after graduating from Harvard in 1854. In Germany, he met the American artists Emanuel Leutze, Worthington Whittredge, and Albert Bierstadt. Together, the group journeyed down the Rhine river to Switzerland and Rome in 1856. These experiences influenced Haseltine's development as a landscape painter. After returning to the United States in 1858, he continued to make excursions in pursuit of landscape subjects.

William Stanley Haseltine (1835-1900) Ruins of the Roman Theatre at Taormina, Sicily, 1889 Oil on canvas Gift of Peter McBean 1986.41

William S. Haseltine here depicted the ruins of a Greek and Roman theater, situated in the ancient town of Taormina, Sicily. Classical civilization had symbolic resonance for many Americans, who viewed their country as being founded upon the democratic ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. Haseltine's views not only served as a pictorial souvenir of these popular tourist destinations but also inspired those who could not afford to take the “Grand Tour” of Europe:

[Looking] at the painting of Taormina, a feeling of the warmth of that Sicilian sky comes over the beholder. . . . Old travelers in Italy will not miss such an opportunity to refresh their recollections of its scenery . . . while those to whom the Italian tour is still but a hope will visit [the paintings] again to gain new aids in filling out their mental pictures.

“Haseltine's Pictures,” Boston Evening Transcript, May 19, 1874