Currently not on view
Pliny the Younger and his Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D.,
1785
Angelica Kauffmann, 1741–1807; born Chur, Switzerland; died Rome, Italy; active London, England
y1969-89
As Mount Vesuvius erupts in the distance, the young Pliny continues his studies at his family’s villa—despite being urged to flee. Meanwhile, his uncle, Pliny the Elder, is sailing toward Vesuvius and will die trying to rescue a friend. Pliny’s letters comprise one of the great records of the catastrophe that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. In one, he tells of being able to "hear the wails of women, the cries of children, the shouts of men . . . others were reaching to the gods . . . others declared the gods no more." This is one of three large-scale history paintings Kauffmann produced in Italy in 1785 for a Mr. Bowles, an English patron. As was noted when the work was first exhibited at London’s Royal Academy in 1786, Pliny has two left feet. The reason for this may be that Kauffmann, then among the most popular artists in Rome, evidently relied on her less-talented husband, Antonio Zucchi, to complete many of her commissions.
Information
Title
Pliny the Younger and his Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D.
Dates
1785
Maker
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
103 × 127.5 cm (40 9/16 × 50 3/16 in.)
frame: 116 × 140.5 × 6.7 cm (45 11/16 × 55 5/16 × 2 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of Franklin H. Kissner
Object Number
y1969-89
Place Depicted
Vesuvius
Signatures
Signed and dated on parapet lower right: Angelika Kauffmann/Pinxit 1785
Culture
Type
Subject
George Bowles, Wanstead, London (ca. 1785; original commission); by descent to Rebecca Bowles Rushout Northwick (until 1818); by descent to Anna Rushout, Wanstead Grove, Essex (1818-1826); by descent to her sister, Harriet Rushout Cockerell (until 1851); by descent to Charles Rushout, 2nd Bart. (1851-1869); by descent to Charles F. Rushout, 3rd Bart. (1869-1879; sale Phillips, London, Dec. 9, 1879, lot 834, to Jacobson); anonymous sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, Nov. 222, 1968, lot 140, to Leger Galleries; Leger Galleries, London; (1968-1969; sold to Princeton University Art Museum).
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- Lady Victoria Manners and Dr. G.C. Williamson, Angelica Kauffmann, R.A., her life and her works, (London: John Lane, 1924)., p. 204, note 1; p. 442
- Martin Conway, "Giorgione Again", Burlington magazine 52, no. 303 (1928): p. 259-260., p. 259
- English occasions on the Thames and in the country, (London: Leger Galleries, 1969)., no. 10
- "Acquisitions 1969", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 29, no. 1 (1970): p. 16-27., p. 27
- Lady Dorothy Mouton Piper Mayer, Angelica Kauffmann, R. A., 1741-1807, (Gerrards Cross, U.K.: Smythe, 1972)., p. 136-137 (color illus.)
- Dorrie Schreiner, " The many faces of Angelica Kauffmann", Intellect 104, no. 2373 (Mar., 1976): p. 440-447., p. 440-446; Cover Illus.
- Pompeii as source and inspiration: reflections in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century art : an exhibition, (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1977)., cat. no. 44; p. 49 (illus.)
- "AD 79: eyewitness account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius", Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 72, no. 4 (Jul.- Aug., 1978): p. 4-7., p. 5 (illus.)
- Alexandra R. Murphy, Visions of Vesuvius, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1978)., p. 16
- Donald Rosenthal, "Joseph Franque's scene during the eruption of Vesuvius", Bulletin (Philadelphia Museum of Art) 75, no. 324 (Mar., 1979): p. 2-15., fig. 8
- Richard Brilliant, Pompeii AD 79: the treasure of rediscovery, (New York: C.N. Potter, 1979)., pl. 21 (color)
- The Golden age of Naples: art and civilization under the Bourbons, 1734-1805, (Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts; Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1981)., p. 171-72, no. 62 (illus.)
- Wendy Wassyng Roworth, "Angelica Kauffman's 'Memorandum of Paintings'", Burlington magazine 126, no. 979 (Oct., 1984): p. 627-630., p. 627-630
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 83
- Hans Ulrich Jost, Brandon Brame Fortune and William Hauptman, From Liotard to Le Corbusier: 200 years of Swiss painting, 1730-1930, (Bern, Switzerland: Coordinating Committee for the Presence of Switzerland Abroad and Swiss Institute for Art Research, 1988)., cat. no. 5, p. 56; p. 57 (illus.)
-
The J. Paul Getty Museum guide to the villa and its gardens (Malibu, CA: The Museum, 1988).
, p. 17 (illus.) - Claire-Lise Bionda, "Angelika Kauffmann", L'Oeil, no. 447 (Dec., 1992)., p. 28-29
- Oscar Sandner, "Eine andere Angelika Kauffmann", in Oscar Sandner, ed., Hommage an Angelika Kauffmann, (Milano: Nuova Mazzotta, 1992)., p. 50-51; p. 50 (illus.)
- Joyce K. Schiller, "Nydia: a forgotten icon of the nineteenth century", Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 67, no. 4 (1993): p. 36-45., p. 39, fig. 5; p. 39ff
- Laurie Schneider Adams, A history of Western art, (Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark, 1994)., fig. 20.12; p. 340
- Bettina Baumgärtel, Brian Allen, et. al., Angelika Kauffmann, (Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje, 1998)., cat. no. 229; p. 385 (color illus.)
- Oscar Sandner, "Roma come destino", in Oscar Sandner ed., Angelika Kauffmann e Roma, (Roma: De Luca, 1998)., p. xxxi-xxxii; p. xxxii, fig. 24
- Wendy Wassyng Roworth, "Angelica Kauffman: Rome, Düsseldorf and Munich", Burlington magazine 141, no. 1153 (Apr., 1999): p. 254-255., p. 255
- Eldon Katter and Marilyn G. Stewart, Art: a global pursuit (Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 2001)., fig. 6-11, 206, illus.
- Fernando Mazzocca, Il neoclassicismo in Italia: da Tiepolo a Canova, (Milano: Skira, 2002)., p. 69 (color illus.); p. 424, cat. no. II.12
- Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski and Frederick G. Meyer, ed., The natural history of Pompeii, (Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), fig. 43, 41, illus.
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 189 (illus.)
- Elisabeth Noske, Asthetische Bildung, Kunst & Musik: Kreative Ideen fur den Kindergarten/Ausgabe 12, (München: Olzog, 2010).
- Shelley Hales and Joanna Paul, eds., Pompeii in the public imagination from its rediscovery to today, (Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
-
Victoria C. Gardner Coates, et. al., "The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection", (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2012).
, cat. no. 20; p. 129 (illus.)
