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'Coastal Scene (La Nuit)', c.1750-3
by C.J. Vernet
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Vernet, the son of a decorative
painter from Avignon moved to Rome in 1734, where
he established an international reputation as a
painter of harbours and coastal views before returning
to France in 1753.
British Grand Tourists made up about half his patrons
in Italy. The Ashmolean painting is a variation
of one of a set of four ovals commissioned by Lord
Milltown showing The Times of Day. These sets were
very popular depicting different effects of light
and atmosphere. Morning was a tempestuous shipwreck,
Midday a sandy bay, Evening a busy harbour and Night
in calm and tranquil mood.
Vernet specialised in imaginary views of the Italianate
coast, evocative souvenirs of a journey taken from
Rome to the Bay of Naples bv most rich tourists.
The artist made topographical paintings during his
own visits and then generalised based upon sharp
observation and detailed drawings of landmarks,
ships and nature, out of doors. He aimed to introduce
variety and contrasting effects of nature in her
different moods.
'La Nuit' is a striking composition showing a harbour
with a rising moon bathing the grey, rippling water
with a silvery light, irradiating the sky in both
a naturalistic and magical way. Vernet told a student
he had spent his life studying the sky and learned
a new lesson every day. (Turner’s first exhibited
oil painting, 'Fishermen at Sea', 1796, acknowledges
a debt to Vernet’s moonlight.)
Vignettes of everyday activities enliven the scene.
Fishermen on a boat bring in their nets in a curving
movement which culminates in a circle of local figures,
reddened by the glow of a fire on which supper is
cooking, while they gossip. In the distance under
a picturesque rocky arch (based on a motif from
antique art) tiny horses and riders speed away.
Perhaps they bear cargo unloaded from the stately
galleon, which balances the right side of the composition.
In the foreground an obedient dog sits close to
a solitary man with a fishing rod and our eye travels
through the misty atmosphere to a glimpse of a lighthouse
only just visible on the far distant horizon.
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© Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
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