Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797)

• Was an English landscape and portrait painter.
• Joseph Wright was born in Irongate, Derby, to a respectable family of lawyers.
• Wright went to London in 1751 and for two years studied under Thomas Hudson, the master of Joshua Reynolds.
• Wright and his wife had six children.
• He spent a great deal of time in Naples.
• Wright never witnessed any major eruption of Mount Vesuvius, however, it is possible that he witnessed smaller, less impressive eruptions, which may have inspired many of his subsequent paintings of the volcano.
• On his return from Italy he established himself at Bath as a portrait-painter, but meeting with little couragement.
• He returned to Derby in 1777, where he spent the rest of his life.
• The displayed painting is a crop from: Grotto by the Seaside in the Kingdom of Naples with Banditti, Sunset, 1778. 
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