H. Chr. Christensen, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of L. A. Ring no. 311.

Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1895 no. 502 (supplement).

Charlottenborg, “Udstilling af dansk Kunst fra Italien”, 1909 no. 292.

Sveriges Allmänna Konstforening, Stockholm, “Vilhelm Hammershøi, Theodor Philipsen, L. A. Ring”, 1930 no. 90.

Charlottenborg, “Mindeudstillingen for L. A. Ring”, 1933 no. 101.

Kunstforeningen, “L. A. Ring 1854–1933”, 1953 no. 31.

Literature: Peter Hertz, “L. A. Ring 1854–1933”, 1934, mentioned p. 284 and reproduced p. 283. Hertz writes the following about the present painting p. 284: “(…) the painting that contains most of Italy's light and air among all the paintings that Ring created on the trip is the view of the ruins of the Temple of Apollo with Vesuvius' smoking cone in the background. The painting's motif, firm decorative lines and carefully, detailed treatment stands as a direct descendant of Eckersberg and his students' representations of Italian architecture and painting (…)”

Karl Madsen, “Maleren L. A. Ring” in Samleren 1927, mentioned p. 13.

Smaa Kunstbøger no. 6, reproduced p. 31.

Provenance: The painting was disposed of by lottery at Kunstforeningen (The Danish Art Society) in 1895. Here won by merchant Julius Behrens (1909). Shipbroker Hjalmar Bruhn (1930, 1933). Bruun Rasmussen auction 73, 1956 no. 145, reproduced p. 90.

The painting was made during L. A. Ring's journey to Italy in 1893–95, where he also painted the renowned “Three Skulls from Convento dei Cappuccini at Palermo” (The National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS3201). The present painting is one of the first open-air depictions that Ring made during his trip to Italy. He spent a month in Pompeii. The weather was very fair and therefore Ring only painted outdoors in clear, sunlit colours.

A smaller repetition (30×22 cm), dated 1895, is at The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, Norway, (inv. no. NG.M.01266).