Provenance
(James Mackinnon, London); purchased by Frank Anderson Trapp [1922-2005], Pittsburgh; gift 2004 to NGA.
Accession Number
2004.166.32
Medium
oil on paper on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 26.7 x 34.9 cm (10 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.) | framed: 36.7 x 46.4 x 1.1 cm (14 7/16 x 18 1/4 x 7/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Anderson Trapp
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
Jean-Charles-Joseph Remond (1795-1875) was a French painter known for the precisely observed landscape paintings of Italy that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the French landscape tradition. Ancient Ruins near Messina, Sicily from 1842 depicts the ancient ruins near Messina in the precisely observed, atmospheric manner that distinguishes Remond's best work from the more general landscape painting of his contemporaries. Remond studied with Bertin and was a regular exhibitor at the Salon, and his precisely observed landscape paintings of Italy represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French landscape painting, documenting the ancient ruins and picturesque scenery of Italy with precise observation.
Cultural Impact
Ancient Ruins near Messina, Sicily is important in the history of French landscape painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, atmospheric manner that Remond brought to Italian landscape subjects as one of the most accomplished painters of the French landscape tradition. Remond's precisely observed landscape paintings of Italy—combining the picturesque scenery of Italy with the precise observation that is his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French landscape painting, and the 1842 painting shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
Ancient Ruins near Messina is Remond's precisely observed French landscape: the ancient ruins near Messina rendered in the atmospheric manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the French landscape tradition. The 1842 painting documents the picturesque scenery of Sicily with precise observation and atmospheric effect.
![Saint Bernard and Saint Catherine of Alexandria with the Virgin of the Annunciation [right panel]](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/e6890364-4d99-4684-a62b-5060ee3c3446/full/400,/0/default.jpg)
