Carlo Bonavia - Fire in the island, 1758

 

Carlo Bonavia - Fire in the island, 1758
oil on canvas, 129,1 cm (50 ¾ in.) x 208 cm (81 7/8 in.)
Galerie Perrin

Wrongly identified by Florence Ingersoll-Smouse, in her monograph on Joseph Vernet, as a lost work by that artist, this striking painting is in fact by the Italian painter Carlo Bonavia, as confirmed not only by the blue-toned palette he typically used, but also by the signature which can be seen on a trunk carried by two figures at the bottom centre. The painting, a magnificent nocturne, is unquestionably one of Bonavia’s masterpieces, with a breadth and an ambition that is unprecedented in his corpus. Contrasting the cold light of the moon on one side with the fire licking at the clouds and colouring them red on the other, it is a perfect illustration of his generation’s taste for the sublime as an aesthetic category. 

Carlo Bonavia remains a little-known figure among the great Italian landscape painters of the eighteenth century. Probably born in Rome, he is known to have been mostly active from the middle of the 1750s in Naples, where he remained until his death in 1788. Influenced initially by Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), he owed most of his inspiration to Vernet (1714-1789), which has incidentally led to many cases of confusion about attribution. Just like the French landscape painter, Bonavia succeeded in developing an international clientele of foreign aristocrats on the Grand Tour, such as Lord Brudenell and Count Karl Joseph Firmian (1716-1782), who was Austria’s ambassador to Naples from 1753 to 1758 and who owned no less than seventeen of Bonavia’s paintings. 

Although the signature is partly difficult to read, it is interesting to note that next to the date 1758, the painter has added the letters ‘RA’, perhaps to signify Rome. Does this confirm his Roman origins? Or did Bonavia return temporarily to the Eternal City to execute this large painting, whose ambition and size suggest a commission from an important patron? Dated 1758, the present painting is the same size as the large Storm off a Rocky Coast sold at Sotheby’s London on 3 July 1996 (lot 51). This work is dated 1757, and it would be reasonable to speculate, given their similarities and complementary character, that the present work may have been painted as a pendant to the first.

Giovanni Battista Innocenzo Colombo (Swiss, 1717-1793) - Figures by an encampment in a nocturnal landscape

 

Giovanni Battista Innocenzo Colombo (Swiss, 1717-1793) - Figures by an encampment in a nocturnal landscape 
oil on canvas, 82 × 93 cm (32.2 × 36.6 in)
Private collection

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797) - Cottage on fire at night

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797) - Cottage on fire at night 
oil on canvas, 56,5 cm x 80 cm 
Yale Center for British Art

William Payne - River Scene with Fishermen Hauling their Nets, Moonlight, c.1776–c.1830

 

William Payne - River Scene with Fishermen Hauling their Nets, Moonlight, c.1776–c.1830
Graphite and watercolour on paper, 200 × 302 mm
Tate

Pierre-Jacques Volaire (1729 – 1790s) - A Nocturnal Landscape With Figures Fleeing The Fire Of Alexandria

 

 Pierre-Jacques Volaire (1729 – 1790s) - A Nocturnal Landscape With Figures Fleeing The Fire Of Alexandria
oil on canvas, 104.5 x 85.5 cm. (41.1 x 33.7 in.)

Joseph Wright of Derby - Lake with Castle on a Hill, 1787

 

Joseph Wright of Derby - Lake with Castle on a Hill, 1787
oil on canvas, Saint Louis Art Museum

Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard - Fingal Sees the Ghosts of his Forefathers by Moonlight, 1780 – 1784

 

Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard - Fingal Sees the Ghosts of his Forefathers by Moonlight, 1780 – 1784
oil on canvas, Statens Museum for Kunst

Francis Towne - A View by Moonlight in the Bunhay at Exeter, 1792

 

Francis Towne - A View by Moonlight in the Bunhay at Exeter, 1792
Ink and watercolour on paper, 15,9 × 19,7 cm
Tate, Uk

Joseph Wright of Derby - A Moonlight with a Lighthouse, Coast of Tuscany, 1789

 

Joseph Wright of Derby - A Moonlight with a Lighthouse, Coast of Tuscany, 1789 
oil on canvas, 101,6 × 127,6 cm
Tate, UK

When journeying to and from Rome, Wright had crossed much of mainland Italy but his acquaintance with districts beyond Rome would have been brief. Years later, this imagined scene gave Wright a context in which to compare the differing effects of natural and artifical light-sources that had so long fascinated him. Here, the luminosity of the moonlight in the night sky is contrasted with the hazy beam of the lighthouse and its reflection in the water. The looming dark mass of the cliff and portentous-looking rocks in the bottom left create a sense of melodrama.

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Moonlight, a Study at Millbank, 1797

 

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Moonlight, a Study at Millbank, 1797
oil on canvas, 40.3 cm (15.8 in) x 31.4 cm (12.3 in)
Tate, London

Donato Creti - Astronomical Observations: Venus, 1711

 

Donato Creti - Astronomical Observations: Venus, 1711
oil on canvas, 51 cm (20 in) x 35 cm (13.7 in) 
Pinacoteca Vaticana  

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - William and Margaret from Percy's ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry', ca 1785

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - William and Margaret from Percy's ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry', ca 1785
oil on cavas, 121.9 x 139.7 cm
Yale Center for British Art

This painting represents the devastation wrought by the fickleness of youthful love. William, the man in bed, had given his lover Margaret cause to think they would marry, but the very next day she saw him marry another. She promptly died of grief. On William’s wedding night, Margaret appeared to him in a dream at the foot of his bed. She was dressed in her winding sheet (or burial cloth) to announce her death. William hastened to confirm his dream the next morning and, finding Margaret dead, died the same day stricken with remorse. The tragic story comes from an ancient poem published in Thomas Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1766). As the poem says: “Fair Margaret dyed for pure true love, / Sweet William dyed for sorrow.”

Pierre-Jacques Volaire (1729 – 1790) - The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1771

 

Pierre-Jacques Volaire (1729 – 1790) - The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1771
oil on canvas, 116.8 × 242.9 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago

In this imposing composition, molten lava spews from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius in Italy and winds down the hillside towards the Bay of Naples. Energetic human figures observe the spectacle, their small scale emphasizing the volcano’s enormity. Vesuvius erupted six times between 1707 and 1794 and thus became a touchstone of popular culture at the time. This same period saw the first systematic excavations of Pompeii, the ancient city that Vesuvius famously destroyed in 79 CE. The romance of Vesuvius simultaneously wondrous and terrifying, ancient and contemporary—made it a frequent subject in 18th-century European art and literature. Paintings like this had enormous appeal in tourist markets. 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - A moonlit landscape

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) -  A moonlit landscape
oil on canvas, 64.5 x 83.8 cm

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - Scene near Naples, Italy, by Moonlight

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - Scene near Naples, Italy, by Moonlight 
oil on canvas, 59.1 x 74.3 cm
Derby Museum and Art Gallery

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - Scene near Naples, Italy, Moonlight

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - Scene near Naples, Italy, Moonlight 

Rama and Lakshmana on Mount Pavarasana Folio from the Shangri Ramayana series (Style II) ca. 1690–1710 India. Punjab Hills, kingdom of Jammu (Bahu)

 

Rama and Lakshmana on Mount Pavarasana Folio from the Shangri Ramayana series (Style II) ca. 1690–1710  India. Punjab Hills, kingdom of Jammu (Bahu)

Rama is shown with his brother at the summit of Mount Pavarasana passing a sleepless night after searching in vain for his wife, Sita, who has been abducted by the demon Ravana. Her fate is as yet unknown to Rama,so his fear has not yet turned to anger. The Ramayana emphasizes the vast territory they have covered and the desperate nature of their search, suggested by the featureless expanse leading to the curving horizon, marked by a silver moon. This painting belongs to the Shangri Ramayana series, which is associated with a number of Punjab court styles, suggesting that it was the product of itinerant artists who worked for a number of patrons in the region. This folio is most closely associated with the atelier at Mandi, known for its simple but compelling compositions.

Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg - A Philosopher in a Moonlit Churchyard, 1790

 

Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg - A Philosopher in a Moonlit Churchyard, 1790

This remarkable romantic painting may illustrate part of a poem by Edward Young, The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality (1742–45). It represents a young man standing beside an open grave among the ruins of Tintern Abbey, with its north transept identifiable in the background. He pauses to meditate on death and resurrection—the latter emphasized by a painting of the risen Christ that survives in an arched recess on the left. A sundial above the sculpture casts a moonlight shadow, showing that the time depicted is one o’clock in the morning. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016. Via

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - A Lake by Moonlight

 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) - A Lake by Moonlight

Joseph Wright of Derby - Vesuvius in Eruption, with a View over the Islands in the Bay of Naples, c.1776-80

 

Joseph Wright of Derby - Vesuvius in Eruption, with a View over the Islands in the Bay of Naples, c.1776-80

Joseph Wright toured Italy for the first and only time between 1773 and 1775 but drew on the experience for the rest of his career. In particular his imagination was gripped by the power of Mount Vesuvius, dominating the Bay of Naples and the surrounding area. He stayed in Naples from early October to early November 1774, too early to witness the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1777, and yet during his lifetime he painted over 30 views of the exploding volcano. It is of course possible that he experienced something close to an eruption while staying in Naples, since, according to Sir William Hamilton, the mountain had for many years 'never been free from smoke, nor ever many months without throwing up red-hot SCORIAE … usually followed by a current of liquid Lava' (quoted in Egerton 1991, p.166).

This picture appears to have been painted soon after Wright's return to England, with the aid of studies made on the spot. Wright has created a dramatic composition, taken from the foothills of Vesuvius, looking towards Sorrento and the island of Capri. The inclusion of the islands of Ischia and Procida, neither of which would be visible in reality, emphasises the tranquillity of the sea in contrast to the violence of the volcano. The white hot jet of molten liquid hurled up from the heart of the volcano is framed by dense black clouds, and a further wreath of smoke streams out across the bay, not quite obscuring a brilliant full moon. Wright explores his passion for chiaroscuro effects to the full, contrasting the red hot lava pouring down the sides of the mountain with the darkening sky and surrounding landscape. Scarcely visible in the sombre foreground, two men, followed by a mourning figure, carry the lifeless body of one of the volcano's victims. Wright may have intended the group to represent the death of the elder Pliny in the great eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The relative insignificance of the figures in comparison to the power of the volcano adds a human element to the composition and stresses man's insignificance before the sublime grandeur of nature.

Via