Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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M.0074
The Light at the Door

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1849/1851
Collection: Whereabouts unknown
Accession Number: none
Medium: watercolour, ink and pencil
Support: paper
Size: 3 3/4 x 2 3/8" (95 x 60 mm)
Signature: 'JAW'
Inscription: 'The [sunlight?] was shining [illegible words] light was [splendidly] reflected by the windows of the palace of the Doges of Venice' [in unknown hand]

The Light at the Door

Description

A bent robed figure, possibly a woman, stands at left, beside the pillar of a massive arch.

Site

The inscription might suggest that it was a drawing of the Doge's palace in Venice, or a similar subject, but it may have been completely unrelated to the drawing. 1

Comments

The drawing was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 74), where it was suggested that it might have been a copy of The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt (1827-1910). Judging by the inscription, this is incorrect.

Notes:

1: An indistinct image of the drawing is on Artnet (2021).

Last updated: 11th March 2021 by Margaret