Father Tiber

Father Tiber
Father Tiber
Father Tiber
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Father Tiber
Date
c.1752 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk on yellow prepared paper
Dimensions
Metric: 95 x 148 mm
Imperial: 3 3/4 x 5 13/16 in.
Accession Number
1881,0212.44
Wilson Online Reference
D146/1
Description
The bearded river-god is reclining towards the left, holding a horn of plenty in his hand. The babies, Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome, are seen at his elbow with the she-wolf who reared them
Exhibited
London 1949 (114a)
Provenance
Given by John Deffett Francis, February 1881
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Collectors' marks
Verso:
[1] Lower right, printed collection stamp in oval frame: 'DEFFETT FRANCIS COLLECTION | BM [below] crown' (Lugt 945)
[2] Lower right, printed inventory stamp in oval frame: 'British Museum 1881 | 2 12 | 44'
Verso inscriptions
[1] Lower right, black chalk: R W.G.B [Richard Wilson George Beaumont?]
Subject
The figure is based on the colossal personification of the River Tiber from the fountain in front of the double staircase outside the Palazzo Senatorio in the Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome. Dating from the 2nd century A.D. the statue was originally in the Baths of Constantine on the Quirinal Hill.
Related Drawings
D146/2 The Prow of a Roman Galley, The British Museum
Related Paintings
P164A Apollo and the Seasons, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Critical commentary
The figure probably inspired a recumbent sculpture in the background of P164A Apollo and the Seasons, Indianapolis Museum of Art. On the reverse of D146/1 is a drawing of the prow of a Roman galley, currently (April 2016) inaccessible owing to the method of mounting but included here as D146/2 reproduced from a photograph in the Witt Library.
Bibliography
Binyon 52(a)
Updated by Compiler
2018-02-27 00:00:00