Goats Resting above a River Gorge (Narni, Italy)

1884/1885

Edward Lear

Associated Names
Edward Lear

Artist, British, 1812 - 1888

The image depicts an elevated view of a vast landscape with a high horizon and open sky stretching into the distance. On the horizon, there are faint outlines of distant hills or mountains. To the right, there is a building complex on a cliff overlooking a river below. The brushstrokes are loose and fluid, emphasizing natural land contours. The color palette is muted grays and off-whites, creating an atmospheric depth. In the foreground, there is rocky terrain with indistinct shapes that may represent animals.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Tennyson family (part of an album of 200 drawings illustrating Tennyson poems; this one no. 28); Tennyson Research Centre, Lincoln, until 1980. (Thos. Agnew and Sons, London, 1980, the album broken up and the drawings dispersed); Joseph F. McCrindle [1923-2008], New York, 1984; gift to NGA, 2010.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1988

  • Pitman, Ruth. Edward Lear's Tennyson. Manchester, 1988: 198.

2012

  • Grasselli, Margaret M., and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., eds. The McCrindle Gift: A Distinguished Collection of Drawings and Watercolors. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2012: 170 (color).

Inscriptions

by later hand, verso in graphite: J7241 / 28

Wikidata ID

Q64557558

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