View of Capri from Massa Lubrense
View of Capri from Massa Lubrense
 View of Capri from Massa LubrenseInscribed lower left: near Mafsa/22. August/1838, extensively inscribed with colour notes and inscribed verso: 69/upright/LowestPencil 25.4 by 35.6 cm., 10 by 14 in.Lear arrived in Rome on his first major overseas tour in December 1837. In May 1838 he set off from Rome with his fellow artist Thomas Uwins to visit the Bay of Naples. He lasted only a few days in Naples itself writing to John Gould `Naples does not please me as a city, altho' no other word but Paradise can be used to express the beauty of its environs, which are unlike any earthly scene beside' (letter, 17th October 1839, Selected Letters, 1988, p.47). They continued south reaching Amalfi in mid July then returning to Sorrento where they spent ten days in early August. The present on-the-spot drawing, dated 22nd August, shows the famous view of Capri from the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Massa Lubrense, with above the ruined castle built in 1389. Lear was back in Rome by the end of August.){kind=link}
Edward Lear (1812-1888)
View of Capri from Massa Lubrense
Inscribed lower left: near Mafsa/22. August/1838, extensively inscribed with colour notes and inscribed verso: 69/upright/Lowest
Pencil
25.4 by 35.6 cm., 10 by 14 in.
Lear arrived in Rome on his first major overseas tour in December 1837. In May 1838 he set off from Rome with his fellow artist Thomas Uwins to visit the Bay of Naples. He lasted only a few days in Naples itself writing to John Gould `Naples does not please me as a city, altho' no other word but Paradise can be used to express the beauty of its environs, which are unlike any earthly scene beside' (letter, 17th October 1839, Selected Letters, 1988, p.47). They continued south reaching Amalfi in mid July then returning to Sorrento where they spent ten days in early August. The present on-the-spot drawing, dated 22nd August, shows the famous view of Capri from the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Massa Lubrense, with above the ruined castle built in 1389. Lear was back in Rome by the end of August.