'A View of Catania with Mount Etna in the Distance', Joseph Wright of Derby

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734‑1797)

Title

A View of Catania with Mount Etna in the Distance

Date c.1775

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 660 x 886 mm frame: 908 x 1134 x 122 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 1971

Reference

T01278

On display at Tate Britain

Theme: Looking at the View

Room: Looking at the View

Display caption

Wright was increasingly influenced by the diffuse Mediterranean lighting of the Roman countryside. He wrote of 'an atmosphere so pure and clear that objects twenty miles distant seem not half the way'. No record exists of Wright's having seen Mount Etna in Sicily. He probably worked from another artist''s view, which might account for topographical inaccuracies. Here the large expanse of cool light that veils Mount Etna is the focus of the painting. Crisp, calm air suffuses the architecture and surroundings. However, the ravaged lava fields in the foreground stand as a reminder of nature''s ability to overwhelm human presence.

August 2004