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Lake Nemi
Birmingham Museums Trust
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Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Lake Nemi
c.1754 (undated)
Black chalk, stump, brown wash and white bodycolour on beige paper laid down on card
267 x 410 mm
10 1/2 x 16 1/8 in.
1913P152
D105B
The view is down onto Lake Nemi, which lies in the hollow of wooded shores, with buildings on steep heights left, and on the opposite side towards the right. In the foreground are two figures on a rock, and a stone-pine with cypresses far right.
Worthing 1960; Amsterdam 1965 (143); London Victoria & Albert 1968 (67)
Acquired 1913
No inscriptions; unsigned
See 'Links' tab
[1] Francis Towne (1739-1816): The Lake of Nemi, watercolour, 1781, The British Museum (Nn,3.4)
[2] Joseph Wright of Derby, Lake Nemi, 1790-95, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven.
The view was painted by many British artists after Wilson, including Thomas Jones and William Pars.
Beautifully worked, with minute details on the architecture upper left. Additional features are the tiny boat and sensitive reflection in the lake. The drawing's authenticity is supported by a pentimento in the left-hand figure. Although doubted by WGC who believed it might be a copy by another hand and by Ford this compiler is inclined to accept it.
152'13
Edges ragged in places
02/02/2016