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Bay of Naples

Maker

(artist)
1819-1900

Title

Bay of Naples

Date of Production

1841

Medium

graphite, grey wash, white and yellow bodycolour on grey (now greenish) wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 35.2 cm
Width: 47.4 cm

Accession Number

D.2005.XX.10

Mode of Acquisition

Jeanne Courtauld, bequest, 2005 (July)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The delicate outlines and topographical nature of this drawing show it to be a product of Ruskin’s earlier years, made while on a family visit to Naples in 1841. The scene is viewed from the hilly promontory of the Capo di Posillipo, looking north-eastwards along the coast towards the city. Ruskin focuses on the silhouettes of ruinous buildings and decorative stonework, lightening the dark paper with touches of yellow and white wash and gouache. Purple-blue shadows are echoed in the graceful lines of Mount Vesuvius and the snow-capped hills beyond.

Notes

Ruskin traveled with his parents through France and Italy between September 1840 and June 1841, and he records that he made "47 large size sketches and 34 small". They stayed in Naples from 9 January to 25 February 1841, and again from 10 to 15 March. There are 3 other known views by him of the Bay of Naples (sold Sotheby's 12 July 1984, shown at Agnew's in March 199 and in the MET 48.149.23).

Provenance

Miss Jeanne Courtauld (1910-2003); accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust in 2005

Exhibition History

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011

Literature

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 17
ill. on p. 83

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, graphite, artist's hand: "Bay of Naples".Recto: lower left corner, graphite, artist's hand: "Bay of Naples". Verso: lower centre edge, graphite: “24 x 19”. On an old label, much discoloured and covered in varnish, now in the file: brown ink, cut off: “3 / Bay of Naples (1841) / John Ruskin” and accompanied by a printed label: “FOORD & DICKINSON, / Carvers & Gilders. / 129, 90, [this former number crossed through] Wardour Street ,W. / DRAWINGS MOUNTED / PICTURES CLEANED AND RESTORED.” [according to the NPG, the number change from 90 to 129 occurred in 1878, and Ruskin used Foord & Dickinson from 1844 until at least 1879].

Collector's mark: none.

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