Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from a Cave
Medium
watercolor with graphite; framing lines in pen and black ink
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.269,"width":0.379},"secondary support":{"height":0.275,"width":0.379}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation
Accession Number
1968.69
Tags
male
About this artwork
Adolf von Heydeck worked in Rome and later traveled south to Naples. This drawing presents that city’s most distinctive attraction: Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano that appears against an otherwise calm sky. Von Heydeck portrayed the scene from within a cave interior, contrasting the potentially overwhelming force of nature with the illusion of protection offered by distance and enclosed space.