Artwork Page for A View of Naples through a Window

Details / Information for A View of Naples through a Window

A View of Naples through a Window

1824

Franz Ludwig Catel

(German, 1778–1856)
Culture
Germany, 19th century
Medium
oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 59.5 x 46 x 5.5 cm (23 7/16 x 18 1/8 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 46.8 x 33.5 cm (18 7/16 x 13 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1994.198
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Mount Vesuvius was almost continuously active at the time that Franz Ludwig Catel visited Naples, and erupted just two years before this painting was completed.

Description

Franz Ludwig Catel worked in Rome and later traveled south to Naples. This painting presents that city’s most distinctive attraction: Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano that appears against an otherwise calm sky. Catel portrayed the scene from within a hotel room, contrasting the potentially overwhelming force of nature with the illusion of protection offered by distance and enclosed space.
A vertically oriented oil painting frames a bright vista through a dark doorway. A fringed, translucent white curtain drapes across the top and gathers to our right. Centrally, a dark dog stands in profile, peering over a metal railing at a street with tiny carriages. Beyond the city, a smoking volcano rises against a pale sky. Below, long shadows from the railing stretch across a sunlit red floor, flanked by silhouettes of two dark armchairs.

A View of Naples through a Window

1824

Franz Ludwig Catel

(German, 1778–1856)
Germany, 19th century

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