The Peloponnese Drawings
Lear made 207 dated drawings during his travels in the Peloponnese from 8 March 1849, reaching Athens on 3 April, making side trips to the island of Aegina and the temple of Sounion and finally from 9 April travelling north of the Gulf of Corinth to Mount Parnassus and Delphi, before returning to Patras in the Peloponnese by ship on 20 April. Many of these drawings are shown below in chronological order of the journey.
The locations of a large number of these drawings are known, particularly because three institutions obtained large numbers in the years after their original recipients (gifted or bequeathed by Lear himself) disposed of them in 1929. The Gennadius Library in Athens gained a large number by purchase from a London dealer, the Benaki Museum also in Athens received their collection by gifts, and finally the Houghton Library of Harvard University in the United States retains the largest holding of all Lear's drawings as the result of gifts by two collectors in the mid 20th century.
This website is publishing many of these drawings for the first time, although increasingly the websites of institutions give access to images. The list below shows the public institutions holding 144 of the Peloponnese drawings, with links to the images where they exist (click on names in bold for link)
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (2)
- Athens City Museum, Greece (1)
- Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece (36)
- Birmingham Art Gallery, UK (1)
- British Museum, London, UK (1)
- National Gallery of Canada (1)
- The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK (1)
- The Gennadius Library, Athens, Greece (46)
- Government Art Collection, UK (2)
- The Higgins, Bedford, UK (1)
- Houghton Library, Harvard University, US (50)
- National Galleries of Scotland, UK (1)
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (1)
I am grateful to those institutions whose images I have selected for allowing reproduction on this site either directly or by a link. A small number of images have also come through auction houses or art dealers, for which I am grateful. All are acknowledged under the image itself.
The pictures below are arranged chronologically through Lear's journey, and the Map tab (once expanded into Google maps) may be a useful guide to the route of the journey with each alphabetic section detailing place names of the point reached. The location heading after the date above each picture below is how Lear described it on his studio list. The location below the picture uses the wording Lear inscribed on the drawing itself.
The Lear numbers to the right of each date and location refer to Lear's own numbers for each drawing listed under the Drawings in Detail tab and so give a quick reference to see further details on each image - its size and ownership and auction and exhibition history.
The pictures below are arranged chronologically through Lear's journey, and the Map tab (once expanded into Google maps) may be a useful guide to the route of the journey with each alphabetic section detailing place names of the point reached. The location heading after the date above each picture below is how Lear described it on his studio list. The location below the picture uses the wording Lear inscribed on the drawing itself.
The Lear numbers to the right of each date and location refer to Lear's own numbers for each drawing listed under the Drawings in Detail tab and so give a quick reference to see further details on each image - its size and ownership and auction and exhibition history.
9 March 1849 - near Vostizza (modern Aigio) Lear 2
10 March 1849 - Megaspelion monastery Lear 5B
11 March 1849 - Olonos (near Kalavryta) Lear 10
12 March 1849 - Between Kalavryta and Lycouria Lear 13
13 March 1849 - Lago di Phonia Lear 15
14 March 1849 - Phonia Lear 20
14 March 1849 - Lividhi Lear 23
15 March 1849 - Mantinea Lear 25
15 March 1849 - Tripolizza Lear 28
16 March 1849 - Karytena Lear 32
17 March 1849 - Karytena Lear 33
17 March 1849 - Karytena Lear 34
17 March 1849 - Near Andryzena (click for link) Lear 37
18 March 1849 - Bassae Lear 40
18 March 1849 - Bassae Lear 41
18 March 1849 - Bassae Lear 42
18 March 1849 - Phigaleia (click for link) (click for link) Lear 45
19 March 1849 - Ithome (near Kostantino) Lear 46
20 March 1849 - Ithome Lear 47
20 March 1849 - Messene Lear 50
21 March 1849 - Mt Ithome Lear 54
21 March 1849 - From Ithome Lear 55
21 March 1849 - Ithome Lear 56
21 March 1849 - Derveni Lear 58
22 March 1849 - Londari Lear 60
23 March 1849 - Kalyvea of Sparta Lear 64
23 March 1849 - Sparta Lear 65
23 March 1849 - Sparta Lear 68
24 March 1849 - Mistra Lear 69
24 March 1849 - Mistra Lear 71
24 March 1849 - Mistra church Lear 72
24 March 1849 - Mistra Lear 73
24 March 1849 - Mistra Lear 74
25 March 1849 - Near Vourlia Lear 80
27 March 1849 - Argos Lear 88
28 March 1849 - Tiryns Lear 91
31 March 1849 - Mycaena Lear 96
31 March 1849 - Mycaene Lear 97
31 March 1849 - Nemea (click for link >) artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/9583/ Lear 99
31 March 1849 - Nemea Lear 101
1 April 1849 - Corinth Lear 106
1 April 1849 - Corinth Lear 107
1 April 1949 - Corinth Lear 108
1 April 1849 - Corinth Lear 109
2 April 1849 - Near Kineta Lear 112
2 April 1849 - Kakiscala Lear 114
2 April 1849 - Megara Lear 116
3 April 1849 - Eleusis Lear 117
5 April 1849 - Egina Lear 126
5 April 1849 - Egina Lear 128
6 April 1849 - Sunium Lear 130
6 April 1849 - Sunium Lear 131
6 April 1849 - Sunium Lear 134
6 April 1849 - Sunium Lear 134 (A ?)
8 April 1849 - Athens Lear 139
9 April 1849 - Kara, Athens (List name for 143 as 143B not shown) Lear 143B
10 April 1849 - Phyle Lear 149
11 April 1849 - Costumes Lear 151
11 April 1849 - Plataea Lear 155
12 April 1849 - Parnassus Lear 159
12 April 1849 - Parnassus Lear 162
12 March 1849 - Livadia and Parnassus Lear 164
13 April 1849 - Livadia Lear 165
13 April 1849 - Cheronaea Lear 166
13 April 1849 - Livadhia Lear 171
14 April 1849 - Arachova Lear 178
15 April 1849 - Arachova Lear 184
16 April 1849 - Delphi Lear 191
17 April 1849 - Delphi Lear 192
17 April 1849 - Delphi Lear 193
17 April 1849 - near Salona Lear 197
17 and 18 April 1849 - Salona Lear 199
19 April 1849 - Pentornea Lear 202
23 (?) April 1849 - Patras (Soldier) Lear 204
23 (?) April 1849 - Patras - gulf castles Lear 205