Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 16
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
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Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 16
1752
Black chalk on white paper
188 x 130 mm (volume: 203 x 143 mm)
8 x 5 5/8 in.
E.3586-1922
D53/16
St Jerome and the lion are depicted in a forest, the lion lying in front of a cave or hollowed tree, with the Saint discernible inside - all within a rectangular border
Bt about 1922 from Miss Alice J. Bowles
Numbered below the image, lower right corner: 15
Numbered upper right corner of page: 16
Inscribed above the image, upper right corner: 13 or /3
[1] Museum stamp lower centre of facing page: V.A.M.
E60/44 John Whessell after Wilson, Studies & Designs: St Jerome and the Lion, The British Museum
Wilson's commitment to landscape made soon after his arrival in Rome in late 1751 initiated a sustained burst of activity as a draughtsman which was to gain momentum over the next few years. One major piece of evidence for the seriousness with which he took his new career is provided by the pages of this surviving sketchbook from 1752. Although it contains a number of rapid sketches from nature and the antique, most of its leaves are filled with imaginary essays in landscape design, usually incorporating classical themes such as antique ruins but presented in a rococo manner, and, as noted by Solkin, 'using lazy curving forms and often capricious combinations of architectural motifs in a way that still recalls the works of Zuccarelli.' Increasingly, however, Wilson came to adopt a more naturalistic style.
Solkin 1982, pp. 152, 157
Only two sketchbooks by Wilson have survived - the present one (D53-D53/81) and D280-D280/33 Italian Sketchbook - Drawings, 1754, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
09/11/2017