Matlock Tor by Moonlight

Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734–1797

between 1777 and 1780

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A moonlit landscape depicts a body of water reflecting the moon and clouds. A horse and rider are visible in the foreground on the left, with a rocky incline on the right. Joseph Wright of Derby returned from his period of study in Italy (1773–75) with a new appreciation of landscape, both that of Italy, which he continued to make his subject for the rest of his life, and that of Britain, particularly his native Derbyshire. This painting is one of Wright’s earliest pictorial explorations of the dramatic landscape of his home county. Like so many of his paintings, it focuses on the meticulous observation of a particular effect of light. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection