Harbour Scene at Stabiae

1
Harbour Scene at Stabiae
2
Statistics

• Size 24.5 cm high, roughly square
• Cut from a larger wall panel in a Stabian house
• Date 60-70 AD
• Location Stabiae, Now in Museo Nazionale, Naples

3
Background Information

• At first sight, doesnt seem particularly
  noteworthy
• Closer inspection intricate detail and an
  unexpected mastery of technique
• Artistic style chosen deliberately for effect
• Reminds the viewer of 19th C French Impressionist
  style

4
Impressionist Style
5
Impressionism

• Style emphasises the overall colour, shape and
  movement of objects without delineating them in
  detail.
• Three main characteristics of this style

• -Sketchy outlines
• -Economy of brushstrokes
• -Hinting at, rather than
• depicting, realistic details

6
Composition/Perspective

• Basic structure diagonal
• The eye is led from bottom left to top right
• The painting combines linear (ground level) and
  aerial (birds eye) perspective simultaneously
• This creates the illusion of depth objects
  diminish in scale into the distance are
  represented in fainter, hazier tones

7
Colour

• Surprisingly limited palette
• Overall impression white on purple with blue sea
  and sky
• Also yellow, pink and brown

8
What do you see in the painting?
9
Key Features

• 3 storey building with colonnades
• Lighthouse
• Fishermen
• Rock

• 4 statues on columns
• Inner harbour
• Arch decorated with a triton blowing a trumpet
  and octopus (?)
• Arched gate leading into colonnaded street
• Arched pier jutting into the harbour