90. Johan Christian Clausen Dahl

Painted over five decades before Wilberg’s view (cat. 88), the modernity of Dahl’s Vesuvius in eruption is striking. Dahl arrived in Naples in August 1820 at the invitation of the Crown Prince Christian Frederik of Denmark, a longstanding friend and patron. He painted this view from the prince’s guesthouse on the hill of Pizzofalcone on 20 December 1820, and his journal entry from that day tells us that he had climbed Vesuvius and witnessed an “important eruption”.¹ This highly atmospheric oil sketch, however, is less a record of volcanic activity than a study of colour nuances and light effects. Despite the smoke billowing from Vesuvius, the overall mood is calm, and the sea is so still that it mirrors the twilight colours in the sky. This is a far cry from the dramatic eruptions the artist depicted in his large-scale finished paintings of the volcano, offering a vision of the Sublime which had great appeal to contemporary audiences.