Italian Sketchbook - Drawings pp. 6(v) and 7(r)

Italian Sketchbook - Drawings pp. 6(v) and 7(r)
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings pp. 6(v) and 7(r)
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings pp. 6(v) and 7(r)
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings pp. 6(v) and 7(r)
Date
1754
Medium
Graphite with white and black chalk on medium, rough, blued white wove paper
Dimensions
Metric: 281 x 210 mm (each sheet)
Imperial: 11 1/16 x 8 1/4 in. (each sheet)
Accession Number
B1977.14.359 v6 & r7
Wilson Online Reference
D280/6
Description
7(r): A distant view from the terrace of the Capuchin monastery near the hilltop town of Genzano about 20 kilometers south west of Rome. Dominating the town is the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini and next to it the church and bell tower of Santa Maria della Cima.
Provenance
Oldfield Bowles; given to Sir George Beaumont, 1784; thence by descent until 1963, when sold to Paul Mellon
Signature/inscription
7(r) inscribed by Wilson recto upper right corner in black chalk: Gensano [/] from the Capuchins
Subject
Genzano (Genzano di Roma since 1873) is a town in the Alban Hills, one of the Castelli Romani. The Cesarini family gained control of it in 1564. Livia Cesarini, last of the line, was the wife of Francesco II Sforza, after both of whom the palazzo depicted took its name.
Related Drawings
D313 Capucins at Gensano, Rhode Island Museum of Art, School of Design, Providence
Related Prints
E72/6 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, The Lake of Nemi, The British Museum
Related Paintings
P72 Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Critical commentary
This sketch of Genzano taken on the spot was worked up by Wilson into a presentation drawing for Lord Dartmouth (D313) and a painting for William Lock (P72). These in turn gave rise to an etching by Thomas Hastings (E72/6).
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Object ID: 6363
Bibliography
Sutton & Clements 1968, vol. 1, unpaginated and vol. 2, pp. 28-29; Solkin 1978, p. 406, pl. 21
More Information
Only two sketchbooks by Wilson have survived - the present one (D280-D280/33) and D53-D53/81 Studies and Designs by R. Wilson done in Rome in the Year MDCCLII, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.3586-1922).
Condition/Conservation
Some staining on the left sheet (6(v))