drawing
- Museum number
- 1881,0514.34
- Description
-
Capriccio of an Italian town and cascades; crenellated tower above at centre with town walls, steps and rooftops surrounding, cascades running under bridges and arches into the water at foreground. 1754
Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash
- Production date
- 1754
- Dimensions
-
Height: 410 millimetres
-
Width: 293 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Notes by Anissia Morel (2003):
The signature is probably autograph as it is similar to the one which appears on a study by Vernet in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Orléans (Figures by a tree, repr. Joseph Vernet, exh. cat., Paris 1976-1977, no. 64).
This complex capriccio combines many features typical of Vernet's scenes: cascades, twisted trees and rocky cliffs topped by Italianate architecture. A drawing by him of a "Coastal Scene" in the Albertina in Vienna (Inv. 28832) is similar in style and technique. Moreover, both drawings show small figures walking up and down stairs - an unusual motif for Vernet. But the Albertina drawing is essentially a sketch from nature, made near Pozzuoli, whereas the BM drawing is a capriccio. Vernet was perhaps inspired here by the houses along the Neapolitan coast, where he had travelled in 1750, as well as by the vertiginous cliffs and waterfalls at Tivoli, which he visited often during his Italian sojourn from 1734-1753. The BM drawing, dated 1754, was made soon after his move to Marseille, where he stayed from October 1753 to September 1754.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2002 April-June, Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Mus of Art, 'French Drawings from the British Museum'
2002 July-Sep, Tokyo, NM of Western Art, 'French Drawings from the British Museum'
- Acquisition date
- 1881
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1881,0514.34
