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Dimensions: 24 by 17cm., 9 1/2 by 6 3/4 in.

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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM A GERMAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

Probably, Graf Hjilmar Mörner, Sweden (1794-1837)

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Literature: Probably, Marie Lødrup Bang, Johan Christian Dahl: 1788-1857: Life and Works, Oslo, 1987, vol. II, p. 123, no. 318; vol. III, pl., 131, the related sketch illustrated

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Notes: Painted during Dahl's first trip to Italy, it is perhaps surprising to discover him executing a landscape of his native Norway whilst in Rome and Naples. Regardless of his location, however, Dahl often returned to painting Norwegian subject matter. In discussing this phenomenon in this particular work Bang concedes the likely reasons to be commercial (there was a demand for such Nordic scenes from local Italian collectors); environmental (he painted mount Vesuvius with keen interest) and painterly (he worked in the studio of the influential landscape painter Joseph Anton Koch during his time in Rome).

In a letter dated 4 October 1990, Maria Lødrup Bang confirms the authenticity of this work. With regards to the provenance, she is of the opinion that it is most likely no. 318 in her catalogue raisonné, even though it is executed in a different format than the illustrated pen and ink sketch. Alternatively, it could be number 319 or 321 in her catalogue raisonné. However, the inscription on the painting in her opinion points to the oil which was executed for Graf Mörner.