Near Rome

Near Rome
Near Rome
Near Rome
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Near Rome
Date
c.1768 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 50.2 x 75 cm
Imperial: 19 3/4 x 29 1/2 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
BB25
Wilson Online Reference
P156
Exhibited
Brighton 1920 (12); Machynlleth 1937 (7 - size incorrectly given); Exeter 1946 (74); London 1968 (2); Conwy 2009 (22); Weston 2011 (22); Gainsborough's House 2014 (unnumbered)
Provenance
Sir George Colebrooke; his sale Christie's 22-23 April 1774 (33 - A View in Italy); bt together with lot 34 (A ditto - its companion) by Boyd (£28.7.0); Benjamin Booth; thence by family descent
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Related Drawings
D172 A Roman Altar at Palestrina, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Related Prints
E72/2 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Near Rome, 1820, The British Museum
E72/2A Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Near Rome, 1820, The British Museum (inscribed 'R.Wilson pinxit | 1768')
Critical commentary
Whereas the present title is based on the engraving by Hastings, the elegant landscape itself (while non-specific in location) has something of the spirit of P46 Ariccia, Tate, London. The prominent Roman altar, similar to a drawing of one at Palestrina (see 'Related Drawings'), along with the silhouetted cypresses, confirm the Italianate setting. The date derives from the inscription on the etching by Hastings (see 'Related Prints').
Bibliography
Booth Notes, p. 1 (Nomentana & another late SrGC); Booth Notes Doc. 5, p. 2 (View in Italy late Sr G Colebrook); Booth Notes Doc. 8; Booth Notes, Doc. 9 (39 - A Grove with an Altar - Rocks on the Right - man woman & dog. finisht was Sr G: Colebrooke's 30 - 20); WGC, pp. 75, 91, 220-21, pl. 111b; Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 17, BB25; Lord 2009, p. 58, no. 22; Williams 2011, p. 32
Link to WG Constable Archive Record