Boccadasse, Genoa with Monte Fasce in the background

Boccadasse, Genoa with Monte Fasce in the Background from 1826 depicts the picturesque fishing village on the outskirts of Genoa, painted during Bonington's Italian journey. The Mediterranean setting provided new motifs and a warmer palette than his familiar Norman coastal scenes. The work demonstrates Bonington's extraordinary facility — painting quickly and confidently with a wet-into-wet technique that captured fleeting light effects with a freshness no other painter of his generation could m

The Mediterranean architecture and maritime setting are bathed in warm southern light, rendered with the fluid, transparent technique Bonington had perfected in his Northern coastal paintings.