Sculpted Plinth in the Villa Medici (Ancient Altar in the Villa…

Sculpted Plinth in the Villa Medici (Ancient Altar in the Villa…
Sculpted Plinth in the Villa Medici (Ancient Altar in the Villa…
Sculpted Plinth in the Villa Medici (Ancient Altar in the Villa…
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Sculpted Plinth in the Villa Medici (Ancient Altar in the Villa Medici)
Date
c.1753-54 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk, brown wash, stump and white gouache on medium, moderately-textured, blue-grey laid paper
Dimensions
Metric: 191 x 244 mm
Imperial: 7 1/2 x 9 5/8 in.
Accession Number
B1977.14.5745
Wilson Online Reference
D233
Exhibited
Tercentenary 2014 (25)
Provenance
Iolo Williams; Paul Mellon
Signature/inscription
Inscribed by the artist in black chalk, lower centre: 'in the Villa Medici'
Critical commentary
While in Rome Wilson lived close to the Villa Medici on the Pincian Hill so the inscription is likely to be accurate. This altar remains unidentified and is not to be found among the sculpture from the Villa Medici now in Florentine collections. Wilson often included antiquities of this kind in the foreground of his Roman landscapes.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Object ID: 15046
Bibliography
Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 222