Vesuvius from Posillipo by Moonlight
Vesuvius from Posillipo by Moonlight was painted by Joseph Wright of Derby in 1774. It is an oil painting of Mount Vesuvius in the distance, from the coastal shores of Naples at night. Dark grey smoke spews from the glowing red crater of the volcano and fills up the top right of the canvas, in contrast to the pale glow of moonlight to the left. Known as a "Painter of Light," Wright liked to play with highlights and shadows in his works and was most well known for his "Candlelight Pictures," landscape or genre scenes depicting dramatic contrasts between light and dark. Through utilizing this technique, Joseph Wright exhibits the sublimity of nature in Vesuvius from Posillipo by Moonlight as well as his other paintings of Mt. Vesuvius. Wright made a trip to Italy in 1773, where he acquired a wealth of new sights and experiences which greatly influenced his art. He drew and wrote extensively about ancient Roman and Italian art and architecture, and Italian landscapes and coastal scenes, especially around Naples. His imagination was particularly captivated by the volcanic activities of Mount Vesuvius, from which he derived many sketches of its textures and painted over 30 versions of