A Sketch from Nature in Italy

A Sketch from Nature in Italy
A Sketch from Nature in Italy
A Sketch from Nature in Italy
City & County of Swansea: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Collection
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
A Sketch from Nature in Italy
Date
Dated verso 1752
Medium
Graphite black chalk and brown-grey wash on faded thick blue paper
Dimensions
Metric: 242 x 364 mm
Imperial: 9 1/2 x 14 5/16 in.
Accession Number
GV DF 2067
Wilson Online Reference
D169
Exhibited
Swansea 1999
Provenance
Presented by John Deffett Francis, between 1876 and 1901
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Collectors' marks
[1] Lower right corner inverted: John Deffett Francis (Lugt )
[2] Lower right : 400 inscribed within a capital stylised C [?]
Verso inscriptions
[1] Lower right corner graphite in Wilson's hand: Monday Mar 6 '52
Subject
The view may be of Tivoli from an unaccustomed angle. There has been a temporary repair to the stone bridge in the foreground.
Critical commentary
Drawn at least in part from nature, but perhaps reinforced with wash later. The inscription verso seems to give the month as May at first reading but 6 May 1752 was a Saturday. 'Mar' is another possible reading and the 6 March that year was a Monday.
Bibliography
Guide to the Collections of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, 1970, p. 16; Themes and Variations 1999, p. 26 repr.
Condition/Conservation
The original colour of the paper is visible on the reverse of the sheet. There are some old brown wash stains on the reverse at the lower left.