Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-wright-of-derby-615" aria-label="More by Joseph Wright of Derby" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Wright of Derby</a>
A Moonlight with a Lighthouse Coast Tuscany
Purchased 1949
adults
architecture
astronomy
boat, sailing
cliff
countries and continents
dock
emotions, concepts and ideas
formal qualities
harbour
Italy, Tuscany
lighthouse
man
moon
night
people
places
public and municipal
sailor
sea
seascapes and coasts
silhouette
society
times of the day
townscape, distant
townscapes / man-made features
trading and commercial
transport: water
work and occupations
<p>When journeying to and from Rome, Wright had crossed much of mainland Italy but his acquaintance with districts beyond Rome would have been brief. Years later, this imagined scene gave Wright a context in which to compare the differing effects of natural and artifical light-sources that had so long fascinated him. Here, the luminosity of the moonlight in the night sky is contrasted with the hazy beam of the lighthouse and its reflection in the water. The looming dark mass of the cliff and portentous-looking rocks in the bottom left create a sense of melodrama.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2000</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
8 October 2001 – 9 March 2003
2003-03-09
8 October 2001 – 9 March 2003
2003-03-09
2001-10-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-10-08
Britain and Italy in the Eighteenth Century
Collection based display
20 January 2006 – 23 April 2006
2006-04-23
20 January 2006 – 23 April 2006
2006-04-23
2006-01-20
Barber Institute of Fine Arts (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.barber.org.uk
2006-01-20
Moonlight over Europe: Dahl's 'Mother and Child by the Sea'
Loan-out
21 January 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
21 January 2012 – 3 June 2012
2012-06-03
2012-01-21
Castel Sismondo (Rimini, Italy)
2012-01-21
Da Vermeer a Kindinsky. Capolavori dai museei del mondo a Rimini
Loan-out
26 March 2015 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
26 March 2015 – 21 June 2015
2015-06-21
2015-03-26
Museo Nacional de Arte (Mexico City, Mexico)
18 July 2015 – 18 October 2015
2015-10-18
2015-07-18
Pinacoteca do Estado (São Paulo, Brazil)
27 April 2018 – 5 August 2018
2018-08-05
2018-04-27
Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai, China)
4 September 2018 – 13 November 2018
2018-11-13
2018-09-04
National Art Museum of China (Beijing, China)
27 November 2019 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
2019-11-27
Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong, China)
2015-03-26
British Landscape
Tate partnerships & programmes
1 April 2019 – 22 July 2019
2019-07-22
1 April 2019 – 22 July 2019
2019-07-22
2019-04-01
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
2019-04-01
Moon
Loan-out
8 June 2021 – 14 January 2024
2024-01-14
8 July 2021 – 14 November 2021
2021-11-14
2021-07-08
Museum of Art Pudong (Shanghai, China)
20 December 2021 – 8 May 2022
2022-05-08
2021-12-20
Buk-Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, South Korea)
15 June 2022 – 13 November 2022
2022-11-13
2022-06-15
ACMI (Melbourne, Australia)
25 February 2023 – 25 June 2023
2023-06-25
2023-02-25
Auckland Art Gallery (Auckland, New Zealand)
12 July 2023 – 2 October 2023
2023-10-02
2023-07-12
National Art Center (Tokyo, Japan)
26 October 2023 – 14 January 2024
2024-01-14
2023-10-26
Nakanoshima Museum of Art (Osaka, Japan)
2021-06-08
Light
Tate partnerships & programmes
A Moonlight with a Lighthouse, Coast of Tuscany
support: 1016 × 1276 mm
frame: 1155 × 1440 × 95 mm
Purchased 1949
<p>When journeying to and from Rome, Wright  had crossed much of mainland Italy but his acquaintance with districts beyond Rome would have been brief. Years later, this imagined scene gave Wright a context in which to compare the differing effects of natural and artifical light-sources that had so long fascinated him. Here, the luminosity of the moonlight in the night sky is contrasted with the hazy beam of the lighthouse and its reflection in the water. The looming dark mass of the cliff and portentous-looking rocks in the bottom left create a sense of melodrama.</p>
Display caption
2000-08-09T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults architecture astronomy boat, sailing cliff countries and continents dock emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities harbour Italy, Tuscany lighthouse man moon night people places public and municipal sailor sea seascapes and coasts silhouette society times of the day townscape, distant townscapes / man-made features trading and commercial transport: water work and occupations