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Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
The Trustees of the British Museum
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Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801) after Wilson
Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Published 29 January 1776
Etching
182 x 258 mm
7 3/16 x 10 3/16 in.
1859,0709.824
E32A
An extensive view from within the shadow of a wide arch of the temple to villas and gardens in the sunlight beyond. A great white cloud can be seen in the sky. Two women and a child are in the foreground with other figures further off and a beggar by the wall on the left.
Purchased from A.E. Evans & Sons, 403 Strand, London, July 1859
Lettered below the image:
[1] Upper left: R. Wilson del.
[2] Upper right: M. Rooker sc.
[3] Centre: TEMPLE of PEACE.
[4] Publication line: Published Jan: 29 1776 by John Boydell Engraver in Cheapside London.
The Temple of Peace was the common name for the Roman forum built by the Emperor Vespasian. It was a favourite with artists of the time including Piranesi.
D104 The Temple of Peace, Rome, The British Museum (1859,0709.112)
E43 Michael 'Angelo' Rooker, Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli and other impressions
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Francis Towne Roman Landscape, watercolour, 1795, Gorringe's Auctions, Lewes, 25 February 2015 (1173)
This print is based on Wilson's drawing now in the British Museum (D104), where his adoption of an unconventional viewpoint beneath the wide coffered arch allowed him to create sharp contrasts between the foreground shadows and the sunlit gardens beyond. Twelve Original Views in Italy was published by John Boydell as a compilation of etchings by different printmakers, produced over a number of years, after Wilson's drawings or paintings. Michael 'Angelo' Rooker etched two prints for this series, the second being E43 Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli. The other engravers involved were Joseph Farington, James Gandon, William Hodges and Edward Rooker.
Edwards 1808, p. 88; Pilkington (1810 edn.); Binyon, p. 353 under 11