English painter of the eighteenth century, three-masted sailing ship, Late 18th century

English painter of the eighteenth century, three-masted sailing ship, Late 18th century

Oil painting on canvas

H 57x78cm

In dark windswept waters and partially illuminated by a soft light from the sky, the romantic marine scene shows a three-masted tall ship flying the Australian flag, invested by a wave caused by a storm in progress. The light source reveals the conclusion of the difficult moment to which the ship is subjected, the sea is in fact agitated but the waters will soon calm down thanks to the luminous glimpse that signals the change in the weather: the rain has stopped and the blue shades purplish tones are about to be replaced by bright blue tones. Even the sailing ship heads straight towards an already sighted destination, the port of a volcanic island with a sort of fortification perched on a hill, largely hidden by the fulcrum of the entire composition, the sailing ship.                                                                                                                                            

The painting, which can be placed in the last years of the 18th century, anticipates the spectacular marine scenarios of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817-1900).

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