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Dimensions: 19.5 by 41.5 cm., 7 1/2 by 16 1/2 in.
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Provenance: THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
Mrs G.P.St George;
Possibly Sotheby's, 13th December 1946 (lot no.unavailable), bt.Vaz Dias
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Exhibited: Society of Painters in Water-colour, 1855, no.295
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Literature: Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonee of the Works of Samuel Palmer, 1988, p.124, no.295 as 'untraced';
Raymond Lister, ed., The Letters of Samuel Palmer, Vol I, 1974, pp.189-90
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Notes: The present watercolour has been dated by Raymond Lister to 1838 (Raymond Lister, Catalogue Raisonee of the Works of Samuel Palmer, 1988, p.124, no.295) during which time Palmer was on honeymoon in Italy. Lister records only two watercolours of the Bay of Naples which were drawn during that year (nos.295 & 296), and Palmer appears to refer to them in a letter he wrote to George and Julia Richmond on 16th September: 'I secured a large drawing of Naples - a smaller of the same...I now see my way and think I am no longer a maker of sketches but an artist' (Raymond Lister, ed., The Letters of Samuel Palmer, Vol.1, 1974, pp.189-90). It seems likely that the present work was the 'large drawing' to which Palmer refers as it was the one he chose to exhibit at the Old Water-colour Society in 1855.
On 30th September 1837, Palmer married Hannah, the daughter of his friend and fellow artist, John Linnell, and three days later they set off on their honeymoon to Italy. The Palmers initially travelled in the company of the artist George Richmond and his wife. They reached Italy in late October and after brief stays in Milan and Florence, they reached Rome where they settled for a while. The coupld stayed in Italy for two years, including six weeks spent in Naples. In a letter to George Richmond Palmer writes of his dislike of the city, but of the bay of Naples he remarks '...surely on the shores of this bay one feels that one has at last discovered the climate and the land of joy and enchantment.' (op.cit, p.191).
The watercolour is an early example of what Palmer called his 'Little Long' format for watercolours. After his return from Italy it became his favourite shape and size (measuring approximately 19 by 40.5 cms) and he used it increasingly throughout the remainder of his life
