Drawing of a lighthouse on a quayside with mountains and a smoking volcano behind, identified as a study of the Mole Lighthouse, Naples, looking towards Portica and Mount Vesuvius beyond. Inscribed with the words: 'Sand', 'Bay', and 'Bay'. Also inscribed below the drawing (handwritten in pencil): 'For the picture / For my friend Tate -' and to right side of drawing (hadwritten in pencil): 'you may remove ye / Hermitage within the / line'. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), c.1774. Pencil on paper. Displayed in a cream window mount.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Wright in Italy. Joseph Wright of Derby's Visit Abroad, 1773-5
    Venue: Fraser, David
    Dates: from 08/08/1987 to 20/09/1987
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery
    Dates: from 17/11/2007 to 24/02/2008
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 23/05/2025 to 07/09/2025

Publications

  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797
    Sub-Title: An introduction to the work of Joseph Wright of Derby with a catalogue of drawings held by Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating the Bicentenary of the artist's death.
    Published Place: Derby
    Published Year: 1997
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 1
    Volume: 1
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: Benedict Nicolson, 1968
    Published Year: 1968

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

  • William Tate (Association)

    Display Date: British, 1748 - 1807

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Pupil and close friend of Joseph Wright of Derby. Witnessed Wright's will and completed some of Wright's unfinished paintings following the latter's death in 1797. Brother of Richard Tate, a Liverpool tobacco merchant and amateur artist, with whom Wright lodged during between about October 1768 and September 1771. Richard's son, Thomas Moss Tate, exhibited some landscapes after Wright and accompnaied him on tours of the Lake District in 1793 and 1794. [see Barker, E. 'Documents Relating to Joseph Wright of Derby' in the Journal of the Walpole Society, Vol.LXXI, 2009, p.206.]

Vesuvius from the Mole

Date: c. 1774

Medium: Pencil on laid paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 194 × 225 mm (7 5/8 × 8 7/8 in.)
Description:In 1792 Wright wrote to J L Phillips 'I have remembered the outline of 'Vesuvius' for friend Tate, which I should think may be enveloped in smoke, but no fire should appear, indeed the hot lava does not show itself by daylight'. This description appears to fit this small composition drawing requested by his friend and fellow artist Thomas Tate. The composition shows the Mole with the lighthouse looking out towards Portica, in the direction of Posilipo. This view was popular with artists, Claude Vernet and Thomas Jones both painted it. The Mole was a centre for social activity. Jones noted in his 'Memoirs', 1778, that it was a favourite place for walking and meeting friends, he describes how he and his fellow artist John 'Warwick' Smith were able to look across the bay and see 'a large stream of red-hot melted lava running down the side of the mountain'1. No painting of the scene by Wright, is known to exist. 1 Quoted in cat. 'In the Shadow of Vesuvius' Electa Napoli 1990. [see Wallis, J. 'Joseph Wright of Derby' (1997), p.81.] Benedict Nicolson understood the drawing to be a compositional study for a painting for his friend Tate, the whereabouts of which was unknown to him. Indeed, he questions whether it was produced at all. [see Nicolson, B. 'Joseph Wright of Derby' (1968), p.76.] Elizabeth Barker noted that the recipient of the drawing was likely to be William Tate, Wright's friend and former pupil. Citing Wright's letter to John Leigh Philips, Barker suggests the drawing may have been made during Wright's excursion to Naples in 1774, or developed later from a study made on the spot. She identifies a painting of 'Vesuvius in Eruption by Moonlight' by William Tate which is recorded as having been sold in 1827 but is now untraced. [see Barker, E. 'Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool' (2007), p.190.]
Inscriptions:Inscribed on recto, below drawing (handwritten in pencil): 'For the picture / For my friend Tate -' and to right side of drawing (hadwritten in pencil): 'you may remove ye / Hermitage within the / line'. The drawing is also annotated with the words: 'Sand', 'Bay', and 'Bay'.
Provenance:...; William Bemrose of Derby; by descent to his son, Charles Lloyd Bemrose, by whom donated to Derby Museums in 1914.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1914-517/82
Browse Collection
Browse Collection