Gradara

Gradara
Gradara
Gradara
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Gradara
Date
1751 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk
Dimensions
Metric: 132 x 185 mm
Imperial: 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
RF69
Wilson Online Reference
D49
Exhibited
Exeter 1946 (40)
Provenance
William Lock of Norbury; his sale, Sotheby's, London 3-7 May 1821; Marianne Ford; thence by descent
Signature/inscription
Inscribed in Wilson's hand at upper right: Gradara
Subject
Gradara is a walled hill-town in the region of the Marche in north-central Italy. Located 25 km from Rimini and 13 km from Pesaro it was a crossroads of traffic and people. The castle is renowned as the setting for the tragic episode of the lovers, Paolo and Francesca, described by Dante in Canto V of the Inferno of his Divina Commedia.
Critical commentary
This drawing was one of a number made on the journey from Venice to Rome which Wilson undertook in the company of William Lock of Norbury.
Bibliography
Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 70, RF69