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Claude Joseph Vernet, The Shipwreck, 1772, National Gallery
of Art, Washington, Patrons’ Permanent Fund and Chester Dale Fund
2000.22.1 |
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Claude Joseph Vernet, The Night: A Seaport by Moonlight,
unknown date, Musée du Louvre, Paris, © Réunion des Musées
Nationaux
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The
turbulent Shipwreck contrasted sharply with its paired mate, or pendant,
Mediterranean Coast by Moonlight. The scene shown here, The Night, A Seaport by Moonlight, probably resembles the long lost Mediterranean Coast. This serene moonlit scene was "beautiful"
in contrast to the Shipwreck's dark image of the "sublime." Vernet
often made pairs of paintings, even sets
of four canvases, contrasting times of day with different weather effects.
 
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