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Rome from the Villa Madama
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
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Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Rome from the Villa Madama
Undated
Oil on canvas
42.8 x 52.7 cm
16 13/16 x 20 3/4 in.
A987
P56A
The view is from the gardens of the Villa Madama on the slopes of Monte Mario. The Villa itself is seen only in part on the right and beyond it is the dome of St Peter's on the skyline. The River Tiber meanders through the composition leading the eye to the Alban Hills in the distance, beyond the city of Rome.
London 1925 (25 - View of Rome; Manchester 1925 (36); London, Colnaghi, February - March 1962, Madan Collection (7)
Col. M.H. Grant; with Leggatt, London, 1927; bequeathed by Francis Faber Madan 1962
Unsigned; no inscription
[1] Painted in black paint on frame l.r.: No 18q
[1] Verso of frame circular u.l.: c HAB [/] II.
[2] Verso of frame u.centre: F.F. Madan Esq [/] Richard Wilson
[3] Verso on vertical stretcher, inverted: [printed] City of Manchester [/] [black ink:] 18 Sep [/]
D225 The Villa Madama, Rome, with a Man seated in the Foreground, Private Collection, England
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This painting is more freely painted and includes fewer incidental details than the other versions. In the light of this and its smaller size it may be a preliminary version of them.
WA1962.17.29
Bury 1947, p. 72; WGC, pp. 218-19 under pl. 107 a, b (version 4)
The viewpoint is from further to the left and nearer the river than in the other versions. As noted in Solkin 2015 Wilson was the only British landscapist with direct experience of the fabled sites of Roman antiquity until the return of William Marlow from Europe in 1766.
Relined. Extensive craquelure, which appears inpainted in places. Varnish is thick, even, glossy and discoloured (yellowed).