Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734–1797, British, active in Italy (1773–75)
Title:
Lake Nemi
Date:
between 1790 and 1795
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
14 1/4 × 21 1/2 inches (36.2 × 54.6 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.716
Gallery Label:
Lake Nemi, the pendant to Wright’s view of Lake Albano (B1981.25.717), was probably made in the early 1790s, some fifteen years after Wright’s Italian tour of 1773 to 1775. There is a framing tree to the right, while to the left is the town of Nemi itself. In antiquity the lake was sacred to Diana whose sanctuary stood on it banks. The contrast between the two paintings is partly compositional, but extends also to the contrasting times of day in correspondingly cool and warm keys: where Lake Albano is seen in morning light, Lake Nemi is bathed in a warm evening glow. This was a model that Wright undoubtedly knew from his study of the paintings of Richard Wilson, and both compositions, Lake Nemi and Lake Albano, in their careful framing and alternating climatic conditions, reflect similar pairs by Wilson. Gallery label for Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-03-06 - 2014-06-01)