Edward Lear

“Thunderclouds that hang on high,” Joannina, Epirus, Albania

Maker

Edward Lear (English, 1812-1888)

Title

drawing

Year

after 1878

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, sepia

Dimensions

Plate: 26.4 x 51.8 cm (10 3/8 x 20 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

In brown ink, U margin:25/Thunderclouds that hang on high;UR:Joannina (Albania.)Pencil notations on Cliff:very dark ; in ink on mountains, R:sno

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

72.171.36

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

“Grisogorious Places”
Edward Lear’s Travels
Sep 14, 2012 – May 19, 2013

Label copy

This scene of Albania derives from Lear’s trip to the region in 1848. It illustrates the following Tennyson verse from “Eleänore,” published in 1832:

As thunder-clouds that, hung on high,

Roofed the world with doubt and fear,

Floating through an evening atmosphere,

Grow golden all about the sky;

In thee all passion becomes passionless,

Touched by thy spirit’s mellowness,

Losing his fire and active might

In silent meditation,

Falling into a still delight,

And luxury of contemplation.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Edward Lear (English, 1812-1888)
drawing, after 1878
Pen and ink, brush and wash, and graphite on wove paper [J. Whatman]
Plate: 26.4 x 51.8 cm (10 3/8 x 20 3/8 inches)
Anonymous gift 72.171.36

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