About this artwork
Lear first visited Ithaca, in the Ionian Islands, in 1848 and returned in 1863 to make sketches for his publication, ‘Views in the Seven Ionian Islands’. He was impressed by the ‘immense views’ from Mount Neritos, the highest peak on Ithaca and by the island’s associations in classical literature. Ithaca was the home of Odysseus, hero of Homer’s epic poem. Lear wrote in his diary for 29 April 1863: ‘Truly - a very queer magical sight is this view! Dreamlike in its wan delicate pallor - all the gray sea so far below motionless as a surface of polished marble.'
Updated before 2020
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artist:Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) English
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title:Ithaca, from the top of Mount Nirito
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date created:1863
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materials:Pen and brown ink and watercolour
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measurements:34.29 x 50.16 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Accepted by H.M. Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Gallery of Scotland, 2003
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accession number:D 5551.28
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gallery:
Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Although now best known for his nonsense verse, Edward Lear was a superb draughtsman, a talented musician, an intrepid traveller and an outstanding landscape artist and travel writer. He was born in London and began to draw commercially at the age of sixteen. He developed a passion for travelling...
