Label Text:
Self-taught painter, topographical and ornithological draftsman, limerick writer, and children’s book illustrator, Edward Lear spent most of his career traveling—through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia—capturing many of his experiences in rapid watercolors made on the spot. Here, he presents the distant medieval Calabrian city of Pentedattilo, named for the mountain’s profile resembling the raised fingers of a hand (from the Greek "pente," for five, and "daktilos," for finger). Lear recorded his impression of the view as "perfectly magical" and worth "whatever trouble the effort to reach it may so far have cost." He would be gratified to know that his efforts were not forgotten: a monument to Lear now marks the approach to the town.
EEB, 2008
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1968.15 |
