Completed Continental European before 1800, Maritime Subjects 8 comments Do you recognise the location in 'Coast Scene' by Hendrik Frans van Lint?
Photo credit: Shipley Art Gallery
The related NICE entry gives this work unequivocally to the Flemish painter Hendrik Frans van Lint (1684–1763). The topography looks quite real, so perhaps it could be identified?
The collection has accepted this artist attribution, which will appear on the new version of the Your Paintings website in January 2016, and would be interested to find out more about the depicted location.
Completed, Outcome
This discussion is now closed. The description 'A Mediterranean coastal scene' can be added to the work.
This amend will appear on the Art UK website in due course. Thank you to all for participating in this discussion. To those viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all comments that led to this conclusion.
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7 comments
Can't really make out what's on the shoreline in the distance, but if it's a Roman temple of some sort then it's likely a capriccio. This composition is pretty similar to many of Vernet's; rocky cliff left, harbour in the middle and headland/coast line in the distance right. I agree though, the hill side town does look like a proper place, but it could be 'transposed' from inland - somewhere like Tivoli etc and rendered on the coast. In the absence of an exact location, 'Mediterranean Harbour/Italian Seaport' would be a better titles.
Its solely a matter of opinion based on having see quite a lot of Mediterranean topography of a similar sort, but I think it is much more likely to be a capriccio, albeit perhaps with real buildings having provided some of the detail. The first attachment here is a fairly dramatically domed convent- the name of which I forget- though now in secular use (inc. a supermarket below the cloister) on a similar eminence over the harbour of Port Mahon, Menorca, but seaward is about a mile to the left there, so its no more than an architectural example.
http://www.flight-durations.com/template/img/cities/mahon.jpg
The following contemporary work by Jacob Knyff-formerly mooted as either Lisbon or Tangier because of the main ship featured- includes churches possibly copied from one or more in Rome, inc. Trinita dei Monti. Mediterranean architectural fantasies by Abraham Storck also sometimes include real buildings, or elements from them, so it was in no way an uncommon practice, whether based on what artists saw or lifted from other sources, often prints.
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/12427.html
Looks like the mouth of a river.
Rminiscent of Porto Venere....
As there have been no further comments on this work for a year, would the collection want to consider closing the query? The suggestion seems to be that, as would be typical of the artist, the view is not of a known location but probably invented. It would, of course, be up to the collection whether the current title is amended to reflect this.
A more accurate title, at least indicating general location, would be 'A Mediterranean coastal scene', since the lateen rigs of the shipping in the foreground, the general architecture and (I think) a visible palm tree, make that clear, but otherwise I would support the request above to wind this up.
I will add 'A Mediterranean Coastal scene' to the description of the painting, thanks Pieter. And then yes please wind this one up. Thanks, Amy