Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

View of Lake Como

August 27, 1781
Not on view
Towne traveled to Italy in 1780–81 and experimented with watercolor in ways that influenced the medium’s expressive development. As he headed home via the Italian lakes, he made these studies, dated August 27, from a boat on Lake Como, leaving fingerprints in the wet pigment along the lower edge of one sheet, its composition centered on a sunlit hillside backed by distant mountains. The other work is more claustrophobic, showing sheer gray cliffs plunging into the lake before the cloud-topped peak named Monte Legnone. The abstracted quality of Towne’s work results from patches of subtly modulated watercolor edged with lines of ink. Other sheets from the related sketchbook are preserved at Tate Britain and the Yale Center for British Art.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: View of Lake Como
  • Artist: Francis Towne (British, Isleworth, Middlesex 1739–1816 Exeter)
  • Date: August 27, 1781
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink and watercolor
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 6 1/4 × 8 1/4 in. (15.9 × 21 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.620
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Near Glaris [Glarus], Switzerland, Francis Towne British, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, over traces of graphite
Near Glaris [Glarus], Switzerland
Francis Towne
Manufacturer Paper manufactured by C. & I. Honig
September 2, 1781
Gamba Bow, Wood, British
Gamba Bow
British
first half 18th century
Road in Etten, Vincent van Gogh Dutch, Chalk, pencil, pastel, watercolor. Underdrawing in pen and brown ink.
Road in Etten
Vincent van Gogh
1881
Trees by the lake, Peamore Park, near Exeter, Devon, Francis Towne British, Watercolor over traces of graphite; laid down on original mount
Trees by the lake, Peamore Park, near Exeter, Devon
Francis Towne
1790–1810
"Royal George" Cello, William Forster British, Spruce, maple, ebony, British
"Royal George" Cello
William Forster
1782

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 contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.