Exhibitions:

  • Title: Pictures by Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Graves Art Gallery
    Dates: from 17/07/1950 to 27/07/1950
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Norwich Castle Museum
    Dates: from 03/01/1959 to 01/02/1959
  • Title: British Artists in Europe
    Venue: Whitworth Art Gallery
    Dates: from 10/01/1973 to 17/02/1973
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition to Commemorate the Centenary of Derby Museums and Art Gallery
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/04/1979 to 21/07/1979
  • 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: Wright of Derby
    Venue: Tate Gallery
    Dates: from 15/04/1990 to 15/04/1990
  • 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: A Sentimental Journey: Joseph Wright in Italy, 1773-1775
    Venue: Pickford's House Museum
    Dates: from 01/06/2010 to 05/09/2010
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond
    Venue: The Holburne Museum of Art
    Dates: from 25/01/2014 to 05/05/2014
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond (2)
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 24/05/2014 to 31/08/2014

Publications

  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: The Tate Gallery
    Published Year: 1990
  • 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: Wright in Italy
    Sub-Title: Joseph Wright of Derby's Visit Abroad, 1773-5
    Published Place: Sudbury
    Published Year: 1987
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 2
    Volume: 2
    Published Place: New Haven and London
    Published Year: 1968

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Fireworks (or Fire?) in Rome

Date: 04.06.1774

Medium: Pen with bistre wash on toned yellow paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 279 × 419 mm (11 × 16 1/2 in.)
Description:This drawing entered the collection as 'Fire in Rome', but Judy Egerton suggests that more likely it is connected to Wright's 'Girandola' drawings (see Egerton, 1990, cat.82). The smoke and glow from these huge firework displays would look like a fire from a distance. The higher vantage point could indicate that Wright made the drawing (or a study of it) either as he walked back uphill towards his lodgings on the Trinita de Monti above the Piazza di Spagna in Rome, or actually from his lodgings. His letters mention there were 109 steps to the building. [JW: 1997, p.77] Fraser also draws attention to the similarity of the drawing, with its dark buildings in the foreground, to Wright's Girandola study DBYMU 1914-517/4. Fraser notes that there is no known oil of this subject, and may simply reflect Wright's interest in light effects. Fraser also suggests that Wright may have been influenced in his choice of subject matter by his friend Jacob More, who was working on a subject called the 'Burning of Troy' in 1774. [Fraser, 'Wright in Italy', 1987, p.8] Fine Art Index card questions whether the spire emerging to the right side of the smoke is Borromini's University Chapel of San Ivo della Sapienza.
Inscriptions:Inscribed to recto (position?): '1774 210 Rome June 4th 1774' and to top left: '[illegible number?]'.
Provenance:...; Herbert Cheney Bemrose; donated to Derby Museums by Florence May Lousada, the widow of Herbert Cheney Bemrose, in 1954.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1954-219/7
Browse Collection
Browse Collection