Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

How you can use this image

 

This image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).

You can reproduce this image for non-commercial purposes and you are not able to change or modify it in any way.

Wherever you reproduce the image you must attribute the original creators (acknowledge the original artist(s) and the person/organisation that took the photograph of the work) and any other rights holders.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find more images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Download

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

An early, unevenly executed, example of the Mediterranean harbour scenes painted by Jan Baptist Weenix and his son Jan (cf. attributed to Jan Weenix P146). Painted in Weenix’s slightly nervous, fractured style, an Italianate setting is suggested by Corinthian columns, a porphyry tomb (copied from one which then stood before the Pantheon, Rome) and a pyramid, evoking the tomb of Cestius near the Porta Ostiensis, Rome. The motif of the couple dallying before antique ruins may be intended to warn the viewer of the dangers to which such dissipation leads, namely to metaphorical ruin and death. By the time of the picture’s purchase in the nineteenth century, however, any possible moralizing connotations had been forgotten. Weenix’s harbour scenes were then appreciated principally for their picturesque decorative qualities.

The Wallace Collection

London

Title

A Coast Scene with Classical Ruins

Date

1649

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 82 x W 107.5 cm

Accession number

P117

Acquisition method

acquired by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, 1843; bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, 1897

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

The Wallace Collection

Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, Greater London W1U 3BN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue