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: Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
    Dates: from to
  • 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: Wallis, Jane
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
  • 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.
    Author: Wallis, Jane
    Published Place: Derby
    Published Year: 1997
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 1
    Volume: 1
    Author: Benedict Nicolson
    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.)
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