Roman Campagna with Peasants dancing

Roman Campagna with Peasants dancing
Roman Campagna with Peasants dancing
Roman Campagna with Peasants dancing
The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. III, 40
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Roman Campagna with Peasants dancing
Date
c.1752-56 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk on grey paper
Dimensions
Metric: 289 x 413 mm
Imperial: 11 3/8 x 16 1/4 in. 11 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.
Wilson Online Reference
D214
Description
In the foreground two peasants dance while another reclines at a fallen tree trunk nearby on which sits a fourth, playing a violin. In the background are city buildings.
Provenance
Dr. Thomas Monro; his sale, London, Christie’s, 1 July 1833, possibly part of lot 140; William Esdaile (Lugt 2617); Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Collectors' marks
Inscribed by Esdaile at lower left in pen and black ink, '1bx' and at lower right, 'WE'; on verso at lower left, '1833 WE 1bx Dr. Monro’s sale' and at centre, 'Wilson'
Related Paintings
P177 River Mouth with Peasants dancing (Mediterranean Coastal Landscape at Dusk), Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek, Munich;
P177A River Mouth with Peasants dancing, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Critical commentary
The composition, especially the motif of dancing peasants, bears a general similarity to P177 and P177A
Bibliography
WGC, p. 217, under pls. 104c, 105a