Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 66

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Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 66
Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 66
Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 66
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 66
Date
1752
Medium
Black chalk on white paper
Dimensions
Metric: 188 x 130 mm (volume: 203 x 143 mm)
Imperial: 8 x 5 5/8 in.
Accession Number
E.3586-1922
Wilson Online Reference
D53/66
Description
View into the crater of Vesuvius, with plumes of smoke rising in the centre and two figures, one sitting one standing, on the edge of the crest in the left foreground
Provenance
Bt about 1922 from Miss Alice J. Bowles
Signature/inscription
Numbered at upper right corner of facing page: 66
Related Drawings
D53/45 Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, p. 45
D53/77 Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752: From the King of Naples' Garden at Portici, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, p. 77
D248 The Crater of Vesuvius, The British Museum
D249 Landscape with the Crater of Vesuvius, Royal Academy of Arts, London
D250 Landscape with Vesuvius, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Related Prints
E60/35 John Whessell after Wilson, Studies & Designs: Vesuvius, The British Museum
Critical commentary
Wilson's commitment to landscape made soon after his arrival in Rome in late 1751 initiated a sustained burst of activity as a draughtsman which was to gain momentum over the next few years. One major piece of evidence for the seriousness with which he took his new career is provided by the pages of this surviving sketchbook from 1752. Although it contains a number of rapid sketches from nature and the antique, most of its leaves are filled with imaginary essays in landscape design, usually incorporating classical themes such as antique ruins but presented in a rococo manner, 'using lazy curving forms and often capricious combinations of architectural motifs in a way that still recalls the works of Zuccarelli. From this time onwards, however, Wilson slowly but surely abandoned this fantastic notion of landscape art in favour of focusing his attention on the outside world. (Solkin 1982, p. 152)
Bibliography
Solkin 1982, pp. 152, 157
More Information
Only two sketchbooks by Wilson have survived - the present one (D53-D53/81) and D280-D280/33 Italian Sketchbook - Drawings, 1754, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection