Castel Sant'Elmo, from Capodimonte

97: Castel Sant'Elmo, from Capodimonte

Edgar Degas
Paris 1834 - 1917 Paris

PD.18-2000: Fitzwilliam Museum
Rights held by: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, purchased with the assistance of the Gow, Cunliffe and Perceval Funds, with contributions from the National Art-Collections Fund and the Museums and Galleries Commission / Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Fund

Upon leaving the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1856, Degas embarked on his first trip to Italy. He stayed for three years, living with family in Florence and Naples and making extended visits to Rome. He drew assiduously, and the landscape and Mediterranean light inspired him to paint around a dozen landscape oil sketches. Degas was an early collector of Camille Corot’s open-air sketches, confirming his appreciation of the tradition.

Text written and researched by Amy Marquis Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
20 × 27 cm

Created: Circa 1856