Einfahrt in den Hafen von Palermo im Mondschein

By 1769 Joseph Vernet was the most sought-after painter of harbours and sea storms in Europe, fresh from a royal commission to portray all the great ports of France. He liked to paint the same coast under different skies, dawn, storm and calm, and the night piece was the connoisseur's favourite. Here the port of Palermo lies under a moon that lays a cold band of light across the water. On the left a knot of figures huddles around a fire, their faces warm against the silver, while on the right the masts and hulls of moored ships stand as dark silhouettes. It was painted with a companion view of the Calabrian coast, and both came to Russia when Tsar Alexander I bought them for the Hermitage in 1803.