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Source Description
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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
144221
label
Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from a Cave
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
144221
contentType
drawing
title
Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from a Cave
description
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.
date
1820
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79921148
creators
12633
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 26.9 x 37.9 cm (10 9/16 x 14 15/16 in.); Secondary Support: 27.5 x 37.9 cm (10 13/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
cul
Germany, 19th century
accession
1968.69
Source extras
tec
watercolor with graphite; framing lines in pen and black ink
tombstone
Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from a Cave, 1820. Adolf von Heydeck (German, 1787–1856). Watercolor with graphite; framing lines in pen and black ink; sheet: 26.9 x 37.9 cm (10 9/16 x 14 15/16 in.); secondary support: 27.5 x 37.9 cm (10 13/16 x 14 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation, 1968.69
supportMaterials
description
cream wove paper laid down on gray-blue laid paper (artist's mount?)
collection
DR - German
inscriptions
inscription
inscribed on secondary support [by artist?], lower right, in graphite: al Posilipo A Napoli 1820; on verso of secondary support, upper left, in graphite: 44/ ; upper left, in graphite: Al Posilipo a Napoli
inscription
unidentified collector's mark, verso of secondary support, upper right, stamped in blue ink: H [illegible] [surrounded by an oval double border]
didYouKnow
Mount Vesuvius was almost continuously active at the time that Adolf von Heydeck visited Naples, and erupted just two years after this drawing was completed.
citations
citation
Porzio, Annalisa and Marina Causa Picone. <em>Goethe e i suoi interlocutori</em>. Exh. Cat. Naples: Palazzo Reale, 1983.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 167, no. 56; Reproduced: p. 225
creditline
Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:24:10.765000
sourceId
144221
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - German
med
watercolor with graphite; framing lines in pen and black ink
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
789d17ce8c9f637a