The lack of a "repoussoir" aids this effect. Before the advent of modern photography, which made such images common, this was a revelation. "Niagara" is highly naturalistic, more so than Church's previous "The Andes of Ecuador" (1855), and shows the influence of John Ruskin's aesthetics on Church. Church brings the viewer to the lip of the falls, highlighting the impressive drop by painting in streams of water and cloudy mists. The only foreground object is a floating tree trunk, which might be confused for a branch but for its roots, providing a sense of scale. The white foam near the trunk has some build-up of paint on a canvas that is otherwise smooth. The foam might suggest that the tree is caught on an unseen rock; there is ambiguity in whether this location is a small respite of stability or highlights the imminent danger of reaching the fall's edge. Church's extensive study of the falls allowed him to capture the effect of mist and turbulent water with unprecedented realism. The light creates a partial rainbow beyond the precipice, whose arc is strong where the mist is thick, and absent elsewhere, a highly realistic rendering and a technical achievement. Distant on the horizon are a number of buildings, including Terrapin Tower, on the platform of which stands a tiny person. The painting accumulated damage over time, requiring Church to repaint some of it in 1886. He re-worked the sky so that it was more unified with the water, "more subservient to the cataract", but felt limited in the changes he could make by the many copies of the popular "Niagara" that existed at that point, in engraving and chromolithography. Church developed "Niagara" with public exhibitions in mind. Between May 1 and 29, 1857, tens of thousands paid 25 cents to view the painting—which was greatly praised by local critics—in a darkened Manhattan gallery in which only the painting was illuminated. Some would spend an hour in front of the painting: "Spectators forgot that they were looking simply at pigment ... The painting became the surrogate of a visit in person to the site." Many artists, writers, and politicians reportedly visited the painting's exhibition, including Horace Greeley, Henry Ward Beecher, George Bancroft, George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, and Fitz James O'Brien. Over a thousand subscriptions to a planned chromolithograph were sold; $30 for an artist's proof and $15 for a print, both in color.