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Head of a Capuchin Monk
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Head of a Capuchin Monk
Credit Line
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Leicestershire, UK / The Bridgeman Art Library
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Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Head of a Capuchin Monk
Date
1752 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
48.4 x 38 cm
Dimensions
19 1/8 x 15 in.
Details
Links
Collection
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Leicestershire, UK. To license images click here.
Accession Number
L.F48.1955.0.0.
Wilson Online Reference
P39
Description
Exhibited
BI 1853 (148 <i>Study of a Head</i>, lent Earl of Wicklow), though this may have been P38, <span class="italic">Head of an old Man</span>; London. J.A. Tooth Galleries 1951 (no. 1 lent D.J. Lacey); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (64); Tercentenary 2014 (54)
BI 1853 (148
Study of a Head
, lent Earl of Wicklow), though this may have been P38,
Head of an old Man
; London. J.A. Tooth Galleries 1951 (no. 1 lent D.J. Lacey); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (64); Tercentenary 2014 (54)
Provenance
Painted for Ralph Howard (Viscount Wicklow from 1785); Earls of Wicklow; perhaps 'A Head of St Jerome - Wilson' mentioned in an undated inventory (pre-1820) though this may refer to P38 <span class="italic">Head of an old man</span>; sold with the contents of Shelton Abbey, Arklow, Ireland, Sotheby's London, 23 October 1950 (1584 <i>Head of a Monk</i> by Paggi; bt Father D.J. Lucey; Sotheby's 1 December 1954 (145) bt Leger; bt Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Painted for Ralph Howard (Viscount Wicklow from 1785); Earls of Wicklow; perhaps 'A Head of St Jerome - Wilson' mentioned in an undated inventory (pre-1820) though this may refer to P38
Head of an old man
; sold with the contents of Shelton Abbey, Arklow, Ireland, Sotheby's London, 23 October 1950 (1584
Head of a Monk
by Paggi; bt Father D.J. Lucey; Sotheby's 1 December 1954 (145) bt Leger; bt Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; inscribed verso (see 'Verso Inscriptions')
Unsigned; inscribed verso (see 'Verso Inscriptions')
Techniques and materials
Collectors' marks
Verso inscriptions
Kate Lowry has noted: Inscribed in black ink on verso of lining canvas 'Ricardus Wilson f. Romae 1752'. Possibly copied from the reverse of the original canvas, otherwise unsigned and undated
Kate Lowry has noted:
Inscribed in black ink on verso of lining canvas 'Ricardus Wilson f. Romae 1752'. Possibly copied from the reverse of the original canvas, otherwise unsigned and undated
Mount inscriptions
Labels
Subject
Related Subjects
Related Drawings
D161 <i>Life-size Head of a Man (Head of an Italian)</i>, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
D161
Life-size Head of a Man (Head of an Italian)
, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Related Prints
Versions
Related Paintings
P38 <i>Head of an old Man</i>, Private Collection
P38
Head of an old Man
, Private Collection
Related Works by Other Artists
Anton Raphael Mengs, <i>Portrait of a Capuchin Monk</i>, c. 1752-53, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek, Munich (inv. no. 554)
Anton Raphael Mengs,
Portrait of a Capuchin Monk
, c. 1752-53, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek, Munich (inv. no. 554)
Critical commentary
One of two heads (see also P38) painted vaguely in the manner of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1683-1754), who became Director of the Venetian Academy in 1750, the year of Wilson's arrival in Venice. Prints after his head studies, rich in chiaroscuro, were eagerly acquired by collectors from England.
One of two heads (see also P38) painted vaguely in the manner of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1683-1754), who became Director of the Venetian Academy in 1750, the year of Wilson's arrival in Venice. Prints after his head studies, rich in chiaroscuro, were eagerly acquired by collectors from England.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Bibliography
Ford May 1951, pp. 165-66, fig. 27; WGC, p. 156, pl. 10a; Solkin 1982, p. 181; Clark & Bowron 1985, p. 255 under cat. 165; Roettgen 1999, vol. 2, p. 118, fig. II-8; Wilson and Europe 2014 (fig. 51)
Ford May 1951, pp. 165-66, fig. 27; WGC, p. 156, pl. 10a; Solkin 1982, p. 181; Clark & Bowron 1985, p. 255 under cat. 165; Roettgen 1999, vol. 2, p. 118, fig. II-8; Wilson and Europe 2014 (fig. 51)
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Location featured in work
More Information
Finished before the 14 November 1752, the date of Wilson's account for this and the other Wicklow pictures. The price was 12 scudi, 3 paoli (approximately £3)
Finished before the 14 November 1752, the date of Wilson's account for this and the other Wicklow pictures. The price was 12 scudi, 3 paoli (approximately £3)
Condition/Conservation
Kate Lowry has noted: Glue-relined. All original turnover edges removed at time of lining. Present lining turnovers and edged of original canvas are covered by blue paper tape, painted black, so ground not easily visible. Lining appears to be early 20th century. Four member stretcher not original. Original canvas is very loose simple weave (c 6 threads per sq.cm. each way, similar to the canvas used for the Banditti around a tent (NMWA68.) Colour of ground not established, but painting has a brown underpaint layer the tone and colour of which varies across the painting. The paint in the beard and highlights around the man's head is quite brushy. Interestingly the artist has placed the light highlight at the right to delineate the side of head against the background, rather in the way he would normally draw the sky down to the horizon in his later landscapes. Very unlike Wilson's normal style of portraiture, so possibly a copy after a painting he saw in Rome rather than taken from an actual sitter. The painting is covered with a glossy varnish. Under UV light old scratch damages in the man's forehead are visible and these are retouched. Otherwise the painting is in good condition with no damages. Minor cracks in the man's habit below his ear at the right and in the lower right of his habit.
Kate Lowry has noted:
Glue-relined. All original turnover edges removed at time of lining. Present lining turnovers and edged of original canvas are covered by blue paper tape, painted black, so ground not easily visible. Lining appears to be early 20th century. Four member stretcher not original. Original canvas is very loose simple weave (c 6 threads per sq.cm. each way, similar to the canvas used for the Banditti around a tent (NMWA68.) Colour of ground not established, but painting has a brown underpaint layer the tone and colour of which varies across the painting. The paint in the beard and highlights around the man's head is quite brushy. Interestingly the artist has placed the light highlight at the right to delineate the side of head against the background, rather in the way he would normally draw the sky down to the horizon in his later landscapes. Very unlike Wilson's normal style of portraiture, so possibly a copy after a painting he saw in Rome rather than taken from an actual sitter. The painting is covered with a glossy varnish. Under UV light old scratch damages in the man's forehead are visible and these are retouched. Otherwise the painting is in good condition with no damages. Minor cracks in the man's habit below his ear at the right and in the lower right of his habit.
Illustrations of the Work
Updated by Compiler
Work of Art
Drawings
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782),
Life-size Head of a Man (Head of an Italian)
, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Paintings
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782),
Head of an old Man
, Private Collection
Exhibitions
London, Tate Gallery, Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, and New Haven, Conn., Yale Center for British Art, 3 November 1982 - 19 June 1983
New Haven, Yale Center for British Art & Cardiff, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, 6 March - 29 October 2014
Biographies
Ralph Howard, Viscount Wicklow, 1726-1789
Documents
William George Constable,
Richard Wilson
David Solkin,
Richard Wilson: The Landscape of Reaction
Martin Postle & Robin Simon,
Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting
Anthony M. Clark and Edgar Peters Bowron,
Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of his Works with an Introductory Text
Brinsley Ford, 'Richard Wilson in Rome: I - The Wicklow Wilsons'
Steffi Roettgen,
Anton Rafael Mengs (1728-1779)
Part of a sketchbook
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