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    Return to "Waterhouse 1953" is linked to these Works 27 items
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    View of Lago d'Agnano…

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    View of Lago d'Agnano…
    View of Lago d'Agnano…
    View of Lago d'Agnano…
    Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    View of Lago d'Agnano, the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius in the Distance (Lago d'Agnano - I)
    Date
    c.1753 (undated)
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    Metric: 43.5 x 56.1 cm
    Imperial: 17 1/8 x 22 1/16 in.
    Collection
    Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    WA1855.204
    Wilson Online Reference
    P47
    Description
    Lago d'Agnano, formerly situated eight kilometres west of Naples, is seen from the west, looking southeast across the lake and crater, past Naples towards Mount Vesuvius, smoking in the distance to the left. The peninsula of Sorrento is seen in the centre and the island of Capri on the right. Two women are in conversation in the centre-right foreground and a small boat plies the lake beyond them.
    Exhibited
    Birmingham 1948-49 (47); London 1949 (46)
    Provenance
    Chambers Hall Gift, 1855
    Signature/inscription
    Unsigned; no inscription
    Verso inscriptions
    [1] Upper stretcher left, white chalk: 46
    [2] Vertical stretcher near top, black ink: Lago | di | Agnano | with the Promontory | of Minerva and | Island of Capri | in the distance
    [3] Canvas left side, white chalk: 93
    [4] Canvas chalk: No 93
    Labels
    [1] Verso upper stretcher centre, black ink: R. Wilson.
    [2] Verso lower stretcher, printed: From THE DEPARTMENT OF FINE ART, | ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD | [black ink:] 47 [inverted] | [illegible as covered, inverted]
    [3] Verso lower frame centre, red crayon: 46. The Lake of Agnano
    Subject
    The waterfilled volcanic crater near Naples was a popular resort in ancient times on account of its hot, sulphurous springs but was drained in the 1870s in order to limit the spread of mosquito-borne malaria. It had been a major attraction for eighteenth-century Grand Tourists.
    Related Drawings
    D177 The Lago di Agnano, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Related Paintings
    Pendant: P58 The Baths of Ischia, near Naples, Tate, London
    Critical commentary
    P47 corresponds closely with a drawing made during a visit to Naples in 1752 or later (D177) which also served as the basis for other compositions, of which the best version is P47A Lago d'Agnano with Vesuvius in the Distance , Yale Center for British Art. During his time in Italy, Wilson made several expeditions to Naples and its environs, first in 1752, then in the spring of 1753 and again in 1756.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    A199
    Bibliography
    Grant 1926-47, p. 61; Bury 1947, p. 68; Waterhouse 1953, p. 175, pl. 140A; WGC, pp. 92, 190-91, pl. 63a; The Ashmolean Museum, Complete Catalogue of Paintings, Oxford 2004, p. 245 repr.
    Link to WG Constable Archive Record
    WGC/1/1/75
    More Information
    It was landscapes such as this, partially based on those of Claude Lorrain but more generalised in atmosphere and representing actual views, that largely formed the idea of Italian landscape current in England during the second half of the 18th century. They were eagerly copied and emulated after Wilson's death.
    Condition/Conservation
    Restored by Revitt in 1867. There are vertical scoring marks on both sides of the picture and it has slipped slightly in the frame at upper right.
    Updated by Compiler
    2020-05-25 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The Lago di Agnano, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

    Versions

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) Lago d'Agnano with Vesuvius in the Distance (Lago d'Agnano - I), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) Lago d'Agnano with Vesuvius in the Distance (Lago d'Agnano - I), Private Collection, England

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The Baths of Ischia, near Naples, Tate, London

    Exhibitions

    • Birmingham City Art Gallery, 17 November 1948 - 9 January 1949
    • London, Tate Gallery, 22 January - 14 March 1949

    Biographies

    • Chambers Hall (1786-1855)
    • Horace Buttery (1846-1900)

    Documents

    • William George Constable, Richard Wilson
    • Ellis Kirkham Waterhouse, Painting in Britain 1530-1790
    • Adrian Bury, Richard Wilson, R.A.: The Grand Classic
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