Thomas Jones

Key facts

Full title	The Grotto at Posillipo
Artist	Thomas Jones
Artist dates	1742 - 1803
Date made	1782
Medium and support	Oil on paper laid on board
Dimensions	20.3 × 27.3 cm
Inscription summary	Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit	The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery
Inventory number	L840
Location	On loan: Gere Collection Paintings to the Ashmolean (2024 - 2026), The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK
Image copyright	The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery, © Private collection 2000. Used by permission
Collection	Main Collection

The Grotto at Posillipo

Thomas Jones

This sketch was made during Jones's second stay in Naples. It depicts the grotto at Posillipo, a tunnel cut by the ancient Romans to link Naples with Pozzuoli, further west along the coast. The tall, thin tunnel, depicted by numerous artists besides Jones, was a marvel of ancient engineering, and the tomb of the poet Virgil was to be found there, a site no cultivated tourist could miss. The tomb itself can be seen to the right of the main entrance of the tunnel.

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Thomas Jones, 'The Grotto at Posillipo', 1782

The Grotto at Posillipo

The Grotto at Posillipo

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