Entrance to the Grotto of Posillipo

Charles Rémond

ca. 1822–42 · Oil on paper, laid down on canvas · European Paintings

The Grotto of Posillipo is actually a nearly half-mile-long tunnel that was cut through the rocky promontory separating Naples from the town of Posillipo in the first century. It became an icon of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century. This sketch may have been painted as early as Rémond’s first visit to Naples, in 1822. It was included in an auction of hundreds of oil studies that the artist organized in 1842, which testifies to the interest in these informal works among collectors of the period.

Artist

Charles Rémond

Date

ca. 1822–42

Medium

Oil on paper, laid down on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

The Whitney Collection, Promised Gift of Wheelock Whitney III, and Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, by exchange, 2003