Johan Christian Dahl, called Clausen-Dahl
(Bergen 1788 - 1857 Dresden)
Villa Quisisana on the Gulf of Naples
Oil on paper, laid down on panel
12.8 x 20.4 cm
Provenance:
J.H. Koch, Copenhagen
N. Sontum, Bergen
Private Collection
Literature:
Marie Lødrup Bang, Johan Christian Dahl (1788 - 1857). Life and Works, Catalogue Raisonné, Oslo 1987, II, no. 1207, III, pl. 518
Dahl was a guest of the Danish crown prince Christian Frederik (later Christian VIII) at his villa - Quisisana - from August 1820 to February 1821. The villa, the subject of the present oil sketch, overlooks the Gulf of Naples near Castellammare just south of the city.[1]
The sketch depicts the rear of the villa, the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius as seen from a vantage point high above the town of Castellammare. Dahl's rendering of the landscape and his attention to the effects of southern light are masterly. The composition is infused with the warm glow of the evening sun and enlivened by the addition of staffage figures in the foreground.
Dahl was captivated by the Gulf of Naples as a painterly motif and produced a number of sketches and paintings of it.[2] Wishing to share the powerful impact of the landscape with his wife, he sent one of the sketches to Dresden as a picture postcard souvenir on 26 September 1820. Another sketch was at one time in the collection of Crown Princess Caroline Amalie, wife of Christian Frederik. Two other sketches of the subject in similar format are undated. Dahl probably gave them away in his enthusiasm for the view.
His emotional response to the landscape reaches its apogee in the large-format painting titled View over Quisisana Castle and the Gulf of Naples executed in his Dresden studio in 1825 (Bang 486). Given that several of the known variants of the subject were treated as gifts, it seems unlikely that they were intended as studies for the major oil painting. However, a group of sketches and ricordi will almost certainly have accompanied him on his return to Dresden. This group appears to have escaped art-historical attention.
The various versions of the motif differ in format and in choice of viewpoint. The present sketch (measuring 12.8 x 20.4 cm) is larger than the other sketches and the view shows more of the landscape to the right. This creates a panoramic effect. The shape of the volcano's cone differs from sketch to sketch for the simple reason that Dahl had the good fortune to witness at first hand the eruption of Vesuvius in December 1820. This was an opportunity hoped for by many of the artists visiting the region.
[1] J. C. Dahl in Italien 1820 - 1821, exhib. cat., Copenhagen, Thorvaldsen Museum, 1987.
[2] Five oil sketches by Dahl of the Villa Quisisana are recorded, one of which is the present work (Bang 233, 234, 1207, 1278 and 1283).