Edward Lear

Throughout a two-month walking tour from Nice to Genoa in late 1864, Edward Lear produced large sketches of the dramatic topography along the Northern Italian coast, including this view of Cape Noli. He inscribed each drawing with the precise date, time, and location at which it was made (here misspelling the name of the town Bergeggi as “Basteggi”). Based on detailed and poetic notes describing the colors of the light and landforms, he later added the lush blue and purple tones in watercolor. Lear first visited Italy in 1837, returning often and publishing illustrated accounts of these rambles and explorations. The immediacy of his sketches reveals the persistent pleasure he found in firsthand study of the countryside, and his vibrant colors lend an exotic tint to Italy’s natural beauty.