Matthew Brettingham the Younger was an architect and the eldest son of Matthew Brettingham the Elder, best known for his work at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, where he assisted and later succeeded Wiliam Kent. Brettingham junior also acted as an agent for British collectors in Europe and in 1747 went to Italy, Greece, Germany and Holland to buy statuary and pictures on behalf of the Earl of Leicester for Holkham. He was in Rome until June 1754, thus coinciding with Wilson for three years. He also knew Ralph Howard there - one of Wilson's earliest patrons. In his Account Book, long erroneously thought to pertain primarily to Holkham, he recorded sending four landscapes by Wilson, which cost only 8 zecchini (about £4). He described these as a Pons Rimini, a Source of the Clitumnus and two views of Tivoli. However, none of the pictures was mentioned in his book, The Plans of ... Holkham in Norfolk, London, 1773, which listed the works in each room, and none is at Holkham today.
See also: C.W. James, Chief Justice Coke, his Family & Descendants at Holkham, 1929, p. 287;
J. Kenworthy-Browne, 'Matthew Brettingham's Rome Account Book 1747-1754', Walpole Society, vol. 49, 1983, pp. 37-132.
