Sir George Beaumont was a distinguished collector and amateur painter who was very proud of his association with artists such as Richard Wilson and installed a large stone to commemorate Wilson in the grounds of his country house, Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire [see Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 329.] In November 1821, Beaumont made his own oil study of the boulder at Coleorton, which he inscribed 'il. Tempio di Wilsoni' (Sotheby’s, London, 5 July 2013 (364)). Beaumont's landscapes were greatly influenced by Wilson and in 1782, the year of Wilson's death, he travelled to Italy following in the artist's footsteps. On his return, Oldfield Bowles presented him with a sketchbook that Wilson had used in Rome [see below]. In 1827 Beaumont was the object of a spiteful attack by the writer in the London Magazine, concerning his painting, Jacques and the wounded Stag: '[ ...] If he looks at nature, it is through Wilson; yet not through Wilson great and new, but blackened by varnish, yellow lake and smoke [ ...]'
