Johann Herman Carmiencke’s painting of the Poughkeepsie Iron Works, or Bech’s Furnace, presents a benevolent interpretation of the impact of industry on the American landscape. Nestled between the Hudson River and a hill with grazing goats and kerchief-wearing countryfolk, the factory shows no sign of disturbing its natural surroundings. In reality, the Poughkeepsie Iron Works created such a constant din that, as one historian sarcastically noted, "without the snorting of the blowing engine residents of the southern section of Poughkeepsie scarcely knew how to go to sleep at night." The Danish-born owner of the ironworks probably commissioned the German-born Carmiencke to commemorate this impressive symbol of an immigrant’s success.