Ariccia - I

Ariccia - I
Ariccia - I
Ariccia - I
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Ariccia - I
Date
c.1760 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 47.6 x 73 cm
Imperial: 18 3/4 x 28 3/4 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
BB15
Wilson Online Reference
P46A
Description
On the left a road runs uphill through a dark wood towards distant buildings. On the right are framing trees and a rocky outcrop with a cave below. Three figures are seen at its mouth and a prominent milestone stands to their left. A dead branch lies in the right foreground and the scene is set against a bright cloudy sky above.
Exhibited
BI 1814 (150 - Cavern Scene); BI 1851 (133): RA 1881; London, Grosvenor Gallery, 1888 (La Riccia);
London, Guildhall, 1902 Exhibition of a Selection of Works by French and British Painters of the Eighteenth Century (44 - Val d'Arria); Brighton 1920 (14 - View of La Riccia, near Rome); Ipswich 1927 (9); Exeter 1946 (69); Rome 1959 (668); London 1968 (17); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (89); Conwy 2009 (12); Weston 2011 (14); Gainsborough House 2014 (unnumbered)
Provenance
Sir William Chambers; his sale Christie's 6 April 1799 (79); Benjamin Booth, thence by family descent
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Subject
Located between the lakes of Nemi and Albano on the Via Appia Nuova, south-east of Rome, Ariccia was celebrated for its groves, thought to have been the hunting-grounds of the goddess Diana. The area was a haunt of Gaspard Dughet (1615-1675) and this work reflects his style. The view was described by Benjamin Booth as 'Marble Caverns at Lerici' (Doc. 8) and 'Marble Quarries at La Riccia & Convent' (Doc. 9)
Related Drawings
D224 View at Ariccia, near Albano, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
D282 A Church at Ariccia, Private Collection, England
D282A Landscape near Rome, Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
D326 Ariccia near Rome, The British Museum (1881,0212.24)
Related Prints
E72/11 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, View of Lareci near Rome, The British Museum (1854,0708.68) and other impressions
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Paintings
P87 Ariccia - II, Collection of the Earl of Pembroke, Wilton House, Wiltshire
Related Works by Other Artists
Gaspard Dughet, Landscape in the Roman Campagna, c.1670, probably in Corsini collection, Rome, by 1787. National Gallery, London (NG 68)
Critical commentary
David Solkin has noted that the handling in this painting typifies the highly-finished, rather small-scale cabinet pictures that Wilson produced within the first five years or so after his return to England. Gareth Williams has commented that in its exploration of the effects of foliage and light, this painting prefigures Italian-inspired paintings such as P114 Solitude, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery; also later English works such as P182 View of the Wilderness in St. James's Park, Yale Center for British Art.
Bibliography
Booth Notes Doc. 8, p. 2; Booth Notes, Doc. 9 (38); Fletcher 1908, p. 179; Ipswich 1927, p. 39; WGC, p. 193, pl. 67b; Solkin 1982, p. 203; Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 15; Lord 2009, p. 53, no. 12; Williams 2011, p. 25, repr.
Updated by Compiler
2021-02-09 00:00:00