Italian Sketchbook - Drawings 27(v) and 28(r)

Italian Sketchbook - Drawings 27(v) and 28(r)
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings 27(v) and 28(r)
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings 27(v) and 28(r)
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Italian Sketchbook - Drawings 27(v) and 28(r)
Date
1754
Medium
Black chalk heightened with white on medium, rough, blued white wove paper, bound in vellum
Dimensions
Metric: 281 x 210 mm (each sheet)
Imperial: 11 1/16 x 8 1/4 in. (each sheet)
Accession Number
B1977.14.359 v27 & r28
Wilson Online Reference
D280/27
Description
27(v): Blank
28(r): Study of two herms: Dionysus and Hermes/Athena
Provenance
Oldfield Bowles; given to Sir George Beaumont, 1784; thence by descent until 1963, when sold to Paul Mellon
Signature/inscription
28(r): Inscribed upper right :in the Capitol
Subject
28(r): Clements noted that the original of the herm depicted on the left represents Dionysus in archaistic style and is carved in luna marble. It has been restored and the face worked over. The herm drawn on the right is of a type known as Hermathena - a double bust of those divinities, also in luna marble. The heads have been restored. The shaft is draped with a chlamys (cloak) and on the Athena side, on the left and more visible in the drawing, an aegis with a gorgon's head and scales in low relief, edged with snakes.
Critical commentary
In the 18th century both herms belonged to Cardinal Alessandro Albani before going to the Museo Capitolino when his collection was sold in 1733. There they were seen and drawn by Wilson. They now stand in the Sala delle Colombe at the museum.
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Object ID: 6363
Bibliography
Sutton & Clements 1968, vol. 1, pp. 26-27; vol. 2, p. 48
More Information
Only two sketchbooks by Wilson have survived - the present one (D280-D280/33) and D53-D53/81 Studies and Designs by R. Wilson done in Rome in the Year MDCCLII, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.3586-1922).
Updated by Compiler
2016-09-02 00:00:00