Neapolitan Bay in the moonlight by Ivan Aivazovsky

Neapolitan Bay in the moonlight by Ivan Aivazovsky

Being in constant search of sources of inspiration for writing his paintings, Aivazovsky very often made trips to the Black Sea. Accordingly, after these trips, there were such famous paintings as “St. George’s Monastery”, “Storm on the Black Sea” and many others.

Once Aivazovsky decided to get out of Russia and went on a trip to Europe. Of the many countries that he managed to visit, the artist gave preference to Italy. In the opinion of art critics, the “Italian” works of the author are fundamentally different from the bulk of his work. In order to experience this difference, I decided to get acquainted with the work of Aivazovsky, during his journey through Italy.

Despite the meager knowledge in painting, I immediately noticed how much the mood of the artist has changed. Apparently, the riot of southern nature made a strong impression on Aivazovsky, that every picture of this period is imbued with sincere enthusiasm and romantic mood of the author. One of the most outstanding and outstanding works is the “Neapolitan Bay in the moonlight”.

Aivazovsky can be called a true expert of the lunar landscapes, which proves to us this picture. The calm sea surface reflects the moonlight that penetrates through the dark sky of the Bay of Naples. The artist suggests that we make a night walk along the lunar path to the very foot of Vesuvius. The volcano is in the background of the picture, at first I did not even pay attention to it. But the author also took care of this – he enveloped the landscape with a haze, hinting at the proximity of the volcano.

Usually in his works Aivazovsky completely immerses himself in the sea, tracing every drop of it. In the painting “The Bay of Naples in the moonlight,” I noticed how closely the artist approached the image of the shoreline. Every detail of the picture is worked out by the author with special expressiveness. These are elegant creepers that hang from a huge tree, and its lush crown. And even the dim light of light in a large dark house, carefully lit by the artist for those who do not sleep in this nocturnal kingdom.

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