Full title | A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas ('Tempête') |
---|---|
Artist | Claude-Joseph Vernet |
Artist dates | 1714 - 1789 |
Series | Two Landscapes: A Sunset and a Storm |
Date made | 1773 |
Medium and support | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 114.5 x 163.5 cm |
Inscription summary | Signed; Dated |
Acquisition credit | Acquired with a donation from the American Friends of the National Gallery, London, made possible by a gift from David H. Koch, 2004 |
Inventory number | NG6601 |
Location | Room 40 |
Art route(s) | C |
Collection | Main Collection |
This is one of a pair of seascapes, originally commissioned on behalf of the King of Poland, that the British officer and East India Company official Lord Clive (known as Clive of India) bought from Vernet in 1773.
Originally known as ‘Tempête’ (Storm), it depicts a rocky shoreline buffeted by a violent sea storm. Two ships roll in the giant swell, sails tied down or tattered by the turbulent winds and lashing rain, while a third ship lies shattered against the rocks. Figures carry salvaged goods up the shore, while an unconscious woman is laid out on a rock, her friends overwhelmed with despair.
The extreme, turbulent elements depicted here contrast with the tranquil atmosphere of its pair, ‘Calme’, reflecting ideas fashionable at the time about the beautiful and sublime in nature and art. They are the only great pair of marine views by Vernet in a British public collection.
This is one of a pair of paintings, originally commissioned on behalf of the King of Poland, that the British officer and East India Company official Lord Clive (known as Clive of India) bought from Vernet in 1773
Vernet’s own descriptions of the paintings bought by Clive, which were originally called ‘Calme’ and ‘Tempête’, were essentially concerned with their composition, light effects and the contrasting states of nature they depict. This painting shows a rocky shoreline buffeted by a violent sea storm. Two ships roll in the giant swell, sails tied down or tattered by the turbulent winds and lashing rain. Bolts of lightning streak from the dark thunder clouds that cover the sun, but the lighthouse lamp is not lit. Huge waves crash over the shore, pouring like waterfalls back down from the cliffs. The remains of a ship lie shattered against the rocks in the lower right foreground. Figures carry salvaged goods up the shore, while an unconscious woman is laid out on a rock, her friends overwhelmed with despair. Further down the coast there is a break in the clouds and sunlight bathes the mountainous landscape. It appears that the devastating storm has arrived suddenly and without warning, leaving no time for the lighthouse lamp to be lit. Perhaps the distant sunlit landscape is to give us hope that the storm will soon abate.
The extreme, turbulent elements depicted here contrast with the tranquil atmosphere of ‘Calme’, reflecting ideas fashionable at the time about the beautiful and sublime in nature and art. These were set out in Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757; first French edition 1765) – a text that had a significant influence on the Romantic and Gothick movements in European art and literature. Vernet juxtaposes the tranquil beauty of ‘Calme’ with the sublime power of ‘Tempete’ to inspire our delight and pleasure in untamed nature.
Vernet’s landscapes and seascapes and the effects of weather were perceived as true to nature, and the ships in his marine views were based on careful observation. The heavily armed boats in this picture were probably built in the 1720s or 1730s, their short pennants identifying them as (armed) merchantmen. The ship in the middle distance towards the left is single-decked and appears to be flying a British Red Ensign. The ship on the right is twin-decked, with the gun-ports of the lower deck closed, presumably because of the heavy seas. Painted shipwrecks were fictional representations of an ever-present reality in an age when losses at sea were commonplace.
‘Calme’ and ‘Tempête’ are two of Vernet’s greatest marine paintings and the type of work for which he was most famous in his day. They are the only great pair of marine views by him in a British public collection.
Download a low-resolution copy of this image for personal use.
License and download a high-resolution image for reproductions up to A3 size from the National Gallery Picture Library.
License imageThis image is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons agreement.
Examples of non-commercial use are:
- Research, private study, or for internal circulation within an educational organisation (such as a school, college or university)
- Non-profit publications, personal websites, blogs, and social media
The image file is 800 pixels on the longest side.
As a charity, we depend upon the generosity of individuals to ensure the collection continues to engage and inspire. Help keep us free by making a donation today.
You must agree to the Creative Commons terms and conditions to download this image.
Two Landscapes: A Sunset and a Storm
These two paintings, originally known as ‘Calme’ and ‘Tempête’ (Calm and Storm), were commissioned as a pair by Stanislas Augustus, King of Poland, in June or July 1772. However, Vernet instead sold them to the British officer and East India Company official Lord Clive (known as Clive of India), who had been impressed by two similar seascapes the artist had exhibited at the Paris Salon the previous year.
‘Calme’, which Vernet painted first, shows an imaginary harbour as fishermen return with their catch on a tranquil summer evening. ‘Tempête’ depicts a rocky shoreline buffeted by a violent sea storm. Two ships roll in the giant swell while another lies shattered against the rocks.
These are two of Vernet’s greatest marine paintings and the type of work for which he was most famous in his day. They are the only great pair of marine views by him in a British public collection.
At the 1771 Paris Salon, the British officer and East India Company official Lord Clive (known as Clive of India) saw a pair of marine paintings by Vernet. He was so enchanted with them that he commissioned the artist to paint a similar pair, only larger, for him. When Vernet quoted 12000 livres, Clive balked at the price. The paintings he eventually bought early in May 1773 were not those he had commissioned, but a smaller pair that had been commissioned on behalf of Stanislas Augustus, King of Poland, in June or July 1772 for 9,600 livres. According to the letter that Vernet wrote to Clive’s agent, the substitution was made because the King was slow to pay.
The painting originally known as ‘Calme’, which Vernet painted first, shows an imaginary harbour as fishermen return with their catch on a tranquil summer evening. The golden sun is at the centre of the painting, its light illuminating the undersides of the few clouds and reflecting off the surface ripples of the water. Light, shadow and atmosphere are the true subjects of Vernet’s painting, the figures in the foreground merely a foil to the beauty of the hazy meeting of light, air and water. The painting follows in the tradition of Claude’s Italianate seaport views such as A Seaport of 1664, and Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula of 1641.
The painting originally called ‘Tempête’ depicts a rocky shoreline buffeted by a violent sea storm. Two ships roll in the giant swell, sails tied down, or tattered by the turbulent winds and lashing rain. Bolts of lightning streak from the dark thunder clouds that cover the sun, but the lighthouse lamp is not lit. Huge waves crash over the shore, pouring like waterfalls back down from the cliffs. The remains of a ship lie shattered against the rocks in the lower right foreground. Figures carry salvaged goods up the beach, while an unconscious woman is laid out on a rock, her friends overwhelmed with despair. Further down the coast there is a break in the clouds and sunlight bathes the mountainous landscape. It appears that the devastating storm has arrived suddenly and without warning, leaving no time for the lighthouse lamp to be lit. Perhaps the distant sunlit landscape is to give us hope that the storm will soon abate.
Vernet intended his contrasting seascapes to affect our emotions and to leave us awed and inspired by the majestic power and beauty of nature. In this, he was exploring fashionable ideas expressed in Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757; first French edition 1765) – a text that had a significant influence on the Romantic and Gothick movements in European art and literature. Burke proposed that beauty stimulates love and relaxes, while the sublime excites horror and creates tension. When we realise that the horror of the sublime in the arts is fictional, this causes the negative feelings to dissipate and creates a sense of pleasure.
These are two of Vernet’s greatest marine paintings and the type of work for which he was most famous in his day. They are the only great pair of marine views by him in a British public collection.


More paintings by Claude-Joseph Vernet



