Scene during the Eruption of Vesuvius

Gallery 393, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

Scene during the Eruption of Vesuvius

c. 1827

Joseph Franque (French (active Naples), 1774–1833)

This melodramatic scene of a family trying to escape the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius, a volcano in southern Italy, was inspired by the report of a French archeologist excavating in Pompeii in 1813. "A mother fled, dragging after her a part of her family: two daughters, and an infant whom she clutched in vain against her breast. . . . The ash covered them, burying them all in the same tomb; their remains were mingled, and almost indistinguishable from one another." The report goes on to describe jewelry found with the remains, including the mother's earrings and the serpent ring worn by the standing girl.

Gallery 393, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Object Details

Title:

Scene during the Eruption of Vesuvius

Date:

c. 1827

Artist:

Joseph Franque (French (active Naples), 1774–1833)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

9 feet 8 1/2 inches × 7 feet 6 inches (295.9 × 228.6 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Purchased with the George W. Elkins Fund, 1972

Accession Number:

E1972-3-1

Geography:

Made in France, Europe

Provenance

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Gallery 393, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

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