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Virgil's Tomb, Naples

ca. 1818
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 806
The iconic view of Naples as seen through the cleft between Virgil’s Tomb at the left and the rocky outcropping at the right was a principal attraction of the Grand Tour. Catel used this plein-air sketch as the basis for a larger composition (Museum Folkwang, Essen) that features a dog and two human figures, one of whom might be the Russian state official Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn, who accompanied the artist on a trip to southern Italy in 1818.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Virgil's Tomb, Naples
  • Artist: Franz Ludwig Catel (German, Berlin 1778–1856 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1818
  • Medium: Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
  • Dimensions: 12 x 8 3/4 in. (30.5 x 22.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Whitney Collection, Gift of Wheelock Whitney III, and Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, by exchange, 2003

  • Object Number: 2003.42.49
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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A Sailing Regatta near Berlin, Franz Ludwig Catel German, Watercolor, over graphite
A Sailing Regatta near Berlin
Franz Ludwig Catel
1841
View of the Church of San Pancrazio, Rome, from the South, Franz Ludwig Catel German, Graphite, watercolor
View of the Church of San Pancrazio, Rome, from the South
Franz Ludwig Catel
1834
View of the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius, Franz Ludwig Catel German, Graphite, watercolor
View of the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius
Franz Ludwig Catel
(Johann Heinrich) Ferdinand Olivier
ca. 1820–1822
View of Rome with Ruined Church, Franz Ludwig Catel German, Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
View of Rome with Ruined Church
Franz Ludwig Catel
ca. 1825–35
The Bay of Naples with Vesuvius and Castel dell'Ovo, Franz Ludwig Catel German, Oil on paper, laid down on cardboard
The Bay of Naples with Vesuvius and Castel dell'Ovo
Franz Ludwig Catel
ca. 1818–20

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