Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 102. Anonymous French, 19th century A Terrace on the Isle of Capri Despite the remarkable quality of this study, it has not yet been possible to identify its author, most likely a French artist working in the middle of the nineteenth century. Painted with great clarity, it does justice to the brightness of the sunshine and the mythical blue sky of the island. The rather humble subject of the terrace, the clever treatment of light, and the meticulous attention to detail give this small picture an almost photographic feeling of snapshot immediacy. Undoubtedly executed sur le motif, the truth-to-nature of this sketch did not, however, preclude some level of artifice. A pentimento is visible on the right side of the composition, where a second column was merged into the shadowy wall, probably in order to emphasize the contrast between light and shade. A view of the same terrace from a different angle by Lord Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) shows the second column intact.1 1https://wikioo.org/paintings.php?refarticle=8YDVXM&titlepainting=The%20Staircase%20of%20a%20House%20at%20Capri&artistname=Lord%20Frederic%20Leighton%20(OK%20?).
Despite the remarkable quality of this study, it has not yet been possible to identify its author, most likely a French artist working in the middle of the nineteenth century. Painted with great clarity, it does justice to the brightness of the sunshine and the mythical blue sky of the island. The rather humble subject of the terrace, the clever treatment of light, and the meticulous attention to detail give this small picture an almost photographic feeling of snapshot immediacy. Undoubtedly executed sur le motif, the truth-to-nature of this sketch did not, however, preclude some level of artifice. A pentimento is visible on the right side of the composition, where a second column was merged into the shadowy wall, probably in order to emphasize the contrast between light and shade. A view of the same terrace from a different angle by Lord Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) shows the second column intact.1 1https://wikioo.org/paintings.php?refarticle=8YDVXM&titlepainting=The%20Staircase%20of%20a%20House%20at%20Capri&artistname=Lord%20Frederic%20Leighton%20(OK%20?).