September 7, 2010

Visions from the "Grand Tour"

The Mezzogiorno Through Foreign Eyes
The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1824
by Johan Christian Dahl, Norwegian, 1788-1857
In addition to housing some of the great masterpieces from Southern Italy the Metropolitan Museum of Art also has a wonderful collection of paintings of Southern Italy by Northern European artists visiting the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the "Grand Tour."

Below are a sample of the paintings currently on exhibit in the MET's 19th- and Early 20th-Century European Paintings and Sculpture galleries, located on the second floor.
View of Ischia from the Sea, 1842
by Charles Rémond, French, 1795-1875
Columns of the Temple of Neptune at Paestum, 1838
by Carl Christian Constantin Hansen, Danish, 1804-1880
View of Naples, 1813
by Alexandre-Hyacinthe Dunouy, French, 1757-1841
The Bay of Naples with Castello dell'Ovo and Mount Vesuvius in the Background, 1818-20 by Franz Ludwig Catel, German, 1778-1856
Other works include:

• Ravine at Sorrento
by Édouard Berton, French, 1797-1871

• View of the bridge near La Cava, Kingdom of Naples
by Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld, French, 1758-1846

• The Palazzo Reale and the Harbor, Naples, ca. 1780
by Alexandre-Hyacinthe Dunouy, French, 1757-1841

• Virgil's Tomb, Naples, 1805
by Jean-François Robert, French, 1778-1832

• The Roman Theater, Taormina, Sicily, 1825
by Louise-Josèphine Sarazin de Belmont, French, 1790-1870

• The Grotto of Posilipo at Naples, 1820
by Gustaf Söderberg, Swedish, 1799-1875

• Sorrowful Woman of Ischia
Unknown, probably French, early 19th century

• Naples, Seen from the Palace of Donn'Anna, 1843
by Jules-Louis-Philippe Coignet, French, 1798-1860

• The Capuchin Garden in Sorrento, near Sant'Angelo, ca. 1824
by Heinrich Reinhold, German, 1788-1825

• Entrance to the Grotto of Posilipo, before 1842
by Charles Rémond, French, 1795-1875

Graziella, 1878
by Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, French, 1836-1912

Moonlit Harbor in Southern Italy, 1833
by Thomas Fearnly, Norwegian, 1802-1842