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Moonlit Night

Claude Joseph Vernet

Basic information

ID: Ж-3548
Author: Claude Joseph Vernet
Name: Moonlit Night
Date of creation: 1769
Country: France
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions: 55 x 82 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: landscape
Plot: Landscape
Provenance: State Hermitage Museum
Exposition: Potocki Palace

Information about author

Author: Claude Joseph Vernet
Author in the original: Claude Joseph Vernet
Artist's lifetime: 1714–1789
Country: France
Biography: Claude Joseph Vernet was one of the leading 18th-century French landscape painters. The artist became known for his skilfully depicted night-time seascapes. The master managed to convey the changeability of the natural elements in his works by juxtaposing the views of the calm sea and storms. The painter was born into the family of the artist Antoine Vernet in 1714 in Avignon. He began his studies under his father by performing decorative paintings of furniture fittings. Later, Claude Joseph Vernet went to Rome. He stayed in Civitavecchia for some time, studying under two famous marinists, Bernardino Fergioni and Adrien Manglard. In 1634, the artist moved to Rome and remained there until 1752. He was deeply impressed by the works of Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa. When he returned to Paris in 1753, King Louis XV commissioned him to paint a series of views of French ports, which he completed over a decade.

Object description

The painting "Moonlit Night" (1769) perfectly exemplifies the artist's late nocturnes. Claude Joseph Vernet depicted a pier near the city on a moonlit night in this landscape. The viewer can see the calm sea lit by the cold moonlight. There are people on the seashore. Some are warming by the fire and listening to the guitarist's music, while others are looking at the sea, where ships are moored. A seascape with vessels and a mountainous coastline can be seen in the background.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Moonlit Night

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