The Baths of Nero

The Baths of Nero
The Baths of Nero
The Baths of Nero
The Trustees of the British Museum
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Baths of Nero
Date
c.1752-56 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk and stump, touched with white, on blue-green paper
Dimensions
Metric: 279 x 421 mm
Imperial: 11 x 16 9/16 in.
Accession Number
1847,0723.106
Wilson Online Reference
D251
Description
The Baths of Nero are shown in a bay with a ruin beneath a wooded cliff. In the distance, there is a castle on a hill and beyond, a headland and rocky island. In the foreground a neck of land projects from the shore with figures near two boats. Other figures are visible further off.
Provenance
Bought from Walter Benjamin Tiffin, 434 West Strand, London, 1847
Signature/inscription
Inscribed upper right by Wilson: 'Baths of Nero.'
Verso inscriptions
The reverse was invisible as the drawing has been laid down
Critical commentary
It is probable that the inscription refers to the villa built at Baiae by the Emperor Nero in the first century AD. Baiae lies on the Gulf of Pozzuoli in the northwestern part of the Gulf of Naples.
Bibliography
Binyon 12
Condition/Conservation
Foxed in the sky and at the lower left and upper right corners