Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)

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Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Royal Academy of Arts, London
title=Credit line
Artist
Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801) after Wilson
Title
Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
Date
Undated
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Metric: 150 x 237 mm
Imperial: 5 7/8 x 9 5/16 in.
Accession Number
05/4499
Wilson Online Reference
E32C
Description
An extensive view from within the shadow of a wide arch of the temple to villas and gardens in the sunlight beyond. A great white cloud can be seen in the sky. Two women and a child are in the foreground with other figures further off and a beggar by the wall on the left.
Provenance
Acquired by 1802
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image:
[1] Upper left: R. Wilson del.
[2] Upper right: M. Rooker sc.
[3] Centre: TEMPLE of PEACE.
Subject
The Temple of Peace was the common name for the Roman forum built by the Emperor Vespasian. It was a favourite with artists of the time including Piranesi.
Related Drawings
D104 The Temple of Peace, Rome, The British Museum (1859,0709.112)
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Works by Other Artists
Francis Towne Roman Landscape, watercolour, 1795, Gorringe's Auctions, Lewes, 25 February 2015 (1173)
Critical commentary
This print is based on Wilson's drawing now in the British Museum (D104), where his adoption of an unconventional viewpoint beneath the wide coffered arch allowed him to create sharp contrasts between the foreground shadows and the sunlit gardens beyond. Twelve Original Views in Italy was published by John Boydell as a compilation of etchings by different printmakers, produced over a number of years, after Wilson's drawings or paintings. Michael 'Angelo' Rooker etched three prints for this series, the others being E42 In the Villa Adriana and E43 Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli. The other engravers involved were Joseph Farington, James Gandon, William Hodges and Edward Rooker.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
PL003840
Bibliography
Edwards 1808, p. 88; Pilkington (1810 edn.); Binyon, p. 353 under 11
More Information
Bound in a nineteenth-century volume with Charles Hullmandel's lithographic 24 Views of Italy, 1818.
E32C is one of the few extant impressions of this etching (along with E32) to lack Boydell's publication line of 1776. This may indicate that, together with other prints in the series Twelve Original Views in Italy, it was first commissioned by Wilson with a view to publication himself, and only later passed or sold to Boydell when Wilson was hard pressed for cash.
Condition/Conservation
Some discoloured spotting
Updated by Compiler
2025-04-29 00:00:00