The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)

The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
Metropolitan Museum New York Rogers Fund, 1906
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
Date
Mid-1750s
Medium
Black chalk and stump touched with white on grey-green toned paper
Dimensions
Metric: 219 x 381 mm
Imperial: 8 5/8 x 15 in.
Accession Number
06.1042.20
Wilson Online Reference
D334
Description
Albano is seen from the south east. On the right are the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, currently known as the Terme di Cellomaio, which stand between the present Via Vascarelle and Via Giacomo Matteotti on the lower side of the town.
Exhibited
Detroit & Philadelpia 1968 (2); Munich 1979-80 (105 - Das Haus des Pompeius in Albano); Tercentenary 2014 (27)
Provenance
Roger Eliot Fry (1866-1934), Highgate, Middlesex; purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Rogers Fund 1906.
Signature/inscription
Inscribed by Wilson, upper right corner: Baths of Pompey at Albano
Subject
Traditionally the subject has been referred to as the 'House of Pompey at Albano' in the literature. However, the town of Albano lies 25 kilometres from Rome. Robin Simon has vindicated the accuracy of Wilson's inscription on the present drawing by demonstrating that rather than showing the ruins of Pompey's house in the grounds of the Villa Doria there, the view shows, at the right, the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, on the lower, south east side of the town.
Related Works by Other Artists
Adolf Friedrich Harper, Baths of Caracalla at Albano, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Critical commentary
This unfinished sketch was undoubtedly made on the spot, probably with a view to being worked up as a presentation drawing later, as suggested by David Solkin. However, it was presumably retained in Wilson's studio for copying by his students, as confirmed by the existence of a copy by Adolf Friedrich Harper (Staatsgalerie Stuttgart).
Bibliography
Solkin 1978, p. 405, pl.17; Conisbee 1996, p. 109, fig. 1; Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 223