The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)

The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
Courtesy of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 34.3 x 43.2 cm
Imperial: 13 1/2 x 17 in.
Accession Number
P0808
Wilson Online Reference
P94A
Description
At the right a renaissance building surmounts a classical structure which has been built on a rock or artificial rampart. In the centre foreground a man sits resting by a rock and a woman with a baby in arms stands next to him. The ground falls away to a river and bridge at the left.
Exhibited
Perhaps BI 1817 (30 lent Benjamin West)
Provenance
Perhaps Benjamin West sale, Christie's 28 May 1824 (20), bt Rogers; Samuel Rogers sale, Christie's 28 April 1856 (712 - 'Italian Landscape with a convent on a rocky height ... From President West's Collection'), bt W. Sharp; [...] Col. M.H. Grant; bt October 1946 by Lt. Col. R.H.R. Brocklebank; bequeathed by him to Magdalen College, Oxford, 1965
Subject
A number of locations have been proposed over the years, all of which Constable dismissed, apart from Sta Maria Aventina, which he believe fitted the composition in some respects but not all, notably the inclusion of the bridge at the left, which occupies the position of the Pons Sublicius, destroyed in 780 AD.
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Works by Other Artists
[1] J.M.W. Turner, Wilson Sketchbook, 1796-97, p. pp. 98-99, Tate, London
Critical commentary
As noted by W.G. Constable, this version differs from P94 (Upton House collection) in minor details. In 1803, possibly referring to this picture, Joseph Farington recorded in his diary that '[Benjamin] West [P.R.A.] has been cleaning his collection of pictures. ... He dwelt upon his little picture of the Convent on the Rock by Wilson, saying it was coloured equal to Cuyp or Both & in parts like Titian. - Wilson was only defficient [sic] in not understanding the value of a ground tint, but used the thick colour in those parts where the ground tint should prevail.'
Bibliography
Farington Diary, vol. 6, pp. 2136-37 (Sunday 2 October 1803); [?] Cook & Wedderburn, vol. 3, p. 189; WGC, p. 198, pl. 76a (version 3); H. Brocklebank, A Turn or two I'll walk to still my beating Mind: Commentary on a Private Collection, London, 1955, pp. 45-51.
More Information
The present title is the title that was used by Farington. Others abound, including View in Italy, , Convento della Vittoria and Sta Maria Aventina.
Updated by Compiler
2022-06-17 00:00:00