Jungle
“Nothing is more moving then the view of these enormous ceiba trees” wrote Morisot in black ink above the pencil sketch he completed in Ciudad Bolivar of the sprawling roots of a ceiba tree. Almost lost between the roots, Morisot included the figures of two men in work clothes to give the viewer a sense of the large scale of the ceiba trees. Throughout the expedition, Morisot inscribed the margins of his sketches with notes describing the virgin forests in enormously emotive language as well as the logistical details of when and where he encountered the scenes depicted. He documented the jungle with quick sketches as well as with albumen print photographs. This statement, written above a sketch completed in April 1886 at the very beginning of the expedition, shows the overwhelming emotion Morisot felt when faced with the beauty and immensity of the Venezuelan jungle that hugged the banks of the Orinoco River.