Eruption of Vesuvius 1771 seen from Portici

This Eruption of Vesuvius seen from Portici, around 1774, at the Huntington Library, records Wright's direct observation of the volcano during his Italian journey of 1773-75. The eruption provided the ultimate subject for an artist fascinated by dramatic light effects and the sublime power of nature. Joseph Wright of Derby's paintings of artificial light — candlelight, firelight, the glow of volcanic eruptions, the brilliance of fireworks — were his most original contribution to European painting. Trained in London under Thomas Hudson and deeply influenced by his observation of the candlelight and firework effects at English pleasure gardens, he brought to the depiction of artificial light a technical mastery that had no parallel in British painting of his time. His Italian journey of 1773-1775 exposed him to the dramatic natural light effects of Vesuvius in eruption and the fireworks at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, experiences that intensified his lifelong fascination with the dramatic possibilities of non-natural illumination.

The volcanic eruption creates an incandescent light source that illuminates the Bay of Naples with fiery orange and red. Wright's scientific observation of the eruption's luminous effects is combined with his Romantic sensibility for nature's terrifying power.