The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli

The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli
The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli
The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli
Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli
Date
c.1765
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 43.2 x 34.3 cm
Imperial: 17 x 13 1/2 in.
Accession Number
00306
Wilson Online Reference
P137A
Description
The scene features one of the vast arcaded galleries of what was thought at the time to be the ruined Villa of Maecenas. To the right a monk directs a well-dressed lady carrying papers towards a small archway. On the left a river winds its way behind a poplar or cypress tree. The shadows fall sharply from the upper left.
Exhibited
RA Old Masters 1882 (36 as Villa Adriana, Part of Maecenas' Villa); London, Grosvenor Gallery 1888 (271 as Ruins near Venice); Brighton 1920 (8 - Landscape); Birmingham 1948-9 (42); London 1949 (41); Gloucester 2014 (unnumbered)
Provenance
Jeremiah Meyer R.A.; his sale, Mr Greenwood, Leicester Square, 4 March 1790 (24 - A Landscape with Ruins, £6.16.6.); Benjamin Booth; Revd R.S. Booth; Lady Ford; Richard Ford; Sir Francis Clare Ford; Capt. Richard Ford; Christie's 14 June 1929 (23), bt Spink (460 guineas, including print by M.A. Rooker); Stanley Marling
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Related Drawings
D130 Wilson, The Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli, The British Museum
Related Prints
E43 M.A. Rooker after Wilson, Twelve Etchings of Views in Italy - Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
E43A M.A. Rooker after Wilson, Villa of Mæcenas at Tivoli, The British Museum
E43B M.A. Rooker after Wilson, Villa of Mæcenas at Tivoli, The British Museum
E43C M.A. Rooker after Wilson, Villa of Mæcenas at Tivoli, Royal Academy of Arts, London
E43D M.A. Rooker after Wilson,Villa of Mæcenas at Tivoli, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
E43E M.A. Rooker after Wilson, Villa of Mæcenas at Tivoli, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
E72/37 Thomas Hastings Part of Maecenas' Villa at Tivoli, The British Museum (1854,0708.94)
E88 Prior after Wilson, Ruins in Italy, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Bibliography
Booth Notes Doc. 8; Booth Notes Doc. 9 (14 - Ruins of Maecenas's Villa (was Jer Meyers) 17 - 13 1/4)); WGC, p.205, pl. 87a (version 1)
Condition/Conservation
Dimensions framed: 63.1 x 54 cm. Damage lower left edge from stretcher bar pressure. Frame is possibly Neoclassical. Kate Lowry has noted: Very discoloured varnish coating and a large old damage, filled and retouched, visible in normal light in left sky area. UV exam shows heavy retouching of the building too. Trees on top of building are rather sketchy. There appears to be a dark paint layer under the present sky, so is possibly a reused canvas. Damage to lower left turnover. Generally in poor condition.
Updated by Compiler
2020-08-18 00:00:00