Panoramic View of San Marino

Panoramic View of San Marino
Panoramic View of San Marino
Panoramic View of San Marino
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Panoramic View of San Marino
Date
1751 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk on three sheets of white paper
Dimensions
Metric: 193 x 812 mm
Imperial: 7 5/8 x 32 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
RF65
Wilson Online Reference
D47
Description
Before an extensive landscape of the ancient republic of San Marino, an artist (presumed to be Wilson himself) is shown drawing in the company of a gentleman, presumed to be his patron and travelling companion, William Lock of Norbury.
Exhibited
London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-3 (18); Gainsborough House 2014 (unnumbered)
Provenance
William Lock of Norbury; his sale, Sotheby's, London 3-7 May 1821; Marianne Ford; thence by descent
Signature/inscription
Inscribed in Wilson's hand, upper left: S.M.
Techniques and materials
The rough appearance of the drawing suggests that it was taken in haste during the journey from Venice to Rome
Verso inscriptions
[1] Slight sketch on verso of the right-hand sheet of a postilion riding the left of two horses, seen from behind as if by passengers in a coach
Subject
The tiny landlocked republic of San Marino is nine miles south of Rimini on the north-eastern side of the Apennine Mountains.
Related Drawings
D45 San Marino, Italy, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (66.2)
Critical commentary
This is the largest and the most ambitious of the drawings Wilson made on his journey from Venice to Rome. It comprises three sheets joined to give a panoramic aspect. The two figures in the left foreground, one of them drawing, presumably represent or refer to Wilson himself and William Lock his companion - the only example of figures of the artist and this patron in Wilson's entire oeuvre. A smaller and slighter sketch by Wilson of San Marino, showing part of the capital itself, is D45 (The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California).
Bibliography
Constable 1954, p. 144, fig.12; Solkin 1982, p. 156; Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 70, RF65
Updated by Compiler
2021-03-05 00:00:00