The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)

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The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
Upton House, National Trust
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 35.5 x 45 cm
Imperial: 13 3/4 x 17 in.
Accession Number
446714
Wilson Online Reference
P94
Description
At the right a renaissance building surmounts a classical structure which has been built on a rock or artificial rampart. In the centre foreground a man sits resting by a rock and a woman with a baby in arms stands next to him. The ground falls away to a river and bridge at the left.
Provenance
Acquired by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearstead (1853-1927) with no details of its earlier history; Walter Horace Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882-1948), by whom bequeathed to the National Trust
Subject
A number of locations have been proposed over the years, all of which Constable dismissed, apart from Sta Maria Aventina, which he believe fitted the composition in some respects but not all, notably the inclusion of the bridge at the left, which occupies the position of the Pons Sublicius, destroyed in 780 AD.
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Works by Other Artists
[1] J.M.W. Turner, Wilson Sketchbook, 1796-97, p. pp. 98-99, Tate, London
Critical commentary
It is possible that it was to this picture (rather than P94A) that Joseph Farington was referring when he wrote '[Benjamin] West [P.R.A.] has been cleaning his collection of pictures. ... He dwelt upon his little picture of the Convent on the Rock by Wilson, saying it was coloured equal to Cuyp or Both & in parts like Titian' (Diary 2 October 1803).
Bibliography
WGC, p. 198, pl. 76a