Panorama View on the Islands of Delos
early 19th–late 19th century
Medium
Graphite, watercolor
Dimensions
sheet: 9 5/16 x 25 1/16 in. (23.7 x 63.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, C. G. Boerner Gift, 2010
Accession Number
2010.275
Tags
Art Historical Context
Johann Michael Wittmer II created this panoramic drawing of the Islands of Delos during the 19th century, a period when European artists frequently traveled to the Mediterranean in search of classical antiquity. Rendered in graphite and watercolor on a long horizontal sheet measuring just over 25 inches wide, the work invites viewers to scan across the landscape as if standing on the shore. The delicate graphite lines establish the rocky contours and architectural fragments, while translucent watercolor washes suggest the bright Aegean light and sea. Delos, the legendary birthplace of Apollo ...