Pentedatelo, Calabria, Italy

Edward Lear British
1847 (?)
Not on view
Lear made this drawing on a trip through southern Italy in 1847. His diary records that on July 30, he arrived, “at an elevated plateau whence the whole 'Toe of Italy' is finely discernible, a sea of undulating lines of varied forms down to the Mediterranean; a few towns glittered here and there, and towering over the southern extremity of land, a high cluster or rocks, the wild crags of Pentedátelo, particularly arrested our attention." From a villa surrounded by a grape arbor and melon patch we look toward a distant cluster of jagged peaks (the Pentedatelo, or Pentedattilo, a geological formation that resembles five fingers). The watercolor's original colors have faded significantly, but the work remains a useful record of Lear's journey.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pentedatelo, Calabria, Italy
  • Artist: Edward Lear (British, London 1812–1888 San Remo)
  • Date: 1847 (?)
  • Medium: Watercolor over graphite
  • Dimensions: Sheet (through mat): 10 1/4 × 20 9/16 in. (26 × 52.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Gordon Douglas III, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.635.4
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.