Virgil's Tomb (Joseph Wright Paintings) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Virgil's Tomb'' is the title of at least three paintings completed by
In total, Wright used the subject in seven paintings. He sent one of the paintings to poet
Joseph Wright of Derby: painter of light
' (1968) vol. 1 pp. 83–85 and ''passim''
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".
Wr ...
between 1779 and 1785.
Description
The subject of these paintings is a fruit of Wright's Italian tour undertaken in 1773–1775. These three depict the ruined structure nearNaples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
that was traditionally identified as the tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
of the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
epic poet
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
. The earliest of the three, dated to 1779, includes the figure of Silius Italicus
Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and Epic poetry, epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book ''Punica (poem), Punica'', an epic poem about th ...
, a slightly later poet known to have been an admirer of Virgil.
Silius Italicus owned the tomb and its surroundings and organized pilgrimages for other admirers of the poet.
In total, Wright used the subject in seven paintings. He sent one of the paintings to poet William Hayley
William Hayley (9 November 174512 November 1820) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of his friend William Cowper.
Biography
Born at Chichester, he was sent to Eton College, Eton in 1757, and to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 176 ...
who returned the favour by writing ''Ode to Mr Wright of Derby''.
Unlike Wright's paintings of candlelit scenes, the views of Virgil's tomb are "flooded with oppressive lunar light". They reflect from a stage of Wright's artistic development when "he held a delicate balance between what actually was there, and what he liked to construct out of what was there" .
Provenance
One of the paintings was given to William Hayley who gave it to the artistAmelia Opie
Amelia Opie (née Alderson; 12 November 1769 – 2 December 1853) was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic period up to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Hers was the first of 187,000 nam ...
. When she died it went to Thomas Brightwall. Another of the paintings was reputedly in the possession of Rev. Thomas Gisborne whom Wright visited in his estate near Needwood Forest
Needwood Forest was a large area of ancient woodland in Staffordshire, England, which was largely lost at the end of the 18th century.
History
The forest was on extensive lands owned by the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershi ...
. This painting was owned by the Barton Blount estates in 1968 and by 1981 it was sold by Miss Ward to Derby Museum and Art Gallery for £12,000. The picture with Silius Italicus in Derby Museum is, according to Benedict Nicolson
Lionel Benedict Nicolson (6 August 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a British art historian and author.
Nicolson was the elder son of authors Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel Nicolson, Nigel. ...
, not necessarily by Wright.(Nicolson p.258)
Bibliography
* Benedict Nicolson,Joseph Wright of Derby: painter of light
' (1968) vol. 1 pp. 83–85 and ''passim''
References