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.

A View of the Island of Madeira

Image credit: Captain Cook Memorial Museum

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

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

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.

William Hodges was the official artist appointed on Cook’s Second Voyage of discovery to the Pacific. Madeira was a favourite stopping place for ships on their outward voyage to the East, and the 'Resolution' and 'Adventure' took on fresh water, beef, wine, fruit and even 1,000 bunches of onions, which were thought to help combat scurvy. Hodges completed this painting five years later after the ships called at Madeira. After the Voyage, Hodges was keen to make his mark and this painting was one of several exhibited in London in 1777. There was however always some tension between the classicism favoured by the Royal Academy and the naturalism demanded when recording views and places never seen before. This painting is imaginative in composition rather than strictly topographical, and Hodges was quite capable of changing the viewpoint between an initial drawing and the painting derived from it for purely aesthetic reasons.

Captain Cook Memorial Museum

Whitby

Title

A View of the Island of Madeira

Date

1777

Medium

oil on wooden panel

Measurements

H 47 x W 64 cm (E)

Accession number

WHICC.10128

Acquisition method

purchased from John Mitchell & Son with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund and the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund, 2001

Work type

Painting

Normally on display at

Captain Cook Memorial Museum

Grape Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 4BA 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