Wilton House: Temple Copse with Inigo Jones's Stables…

Wilton House: Temple Copse with Inigo Jones's Stables…
Wilton House: Temple Copse with Inigo Jones's Stables…
Wilton House: Temple Copse with Inigo Jones's Stables…
Collection of the Earl of Pembroke, Wilton House, Wilts. / The Bridgeman Art Library
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) and Studio
Title
Wilton House: Temple Copse with Inigo Jones's Stables, and Sir William Chambers's Triumphal Arch
Date
c.1758-60 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 100.3 x 146.7 cm
Imperial: 39 1/2 x 57 3/4 in.
Accession Number
86
Wilson Online Reference
P79
Description
At the top of the distant hill on the extreme left is Sir William Chambers's arch with the statue of Marcus Aurelius, the design for which was exhibited at the Society of Artists, 1761 and which was later moved by James Wyatt to form the present front gate of the house. To the right is Chambers's Casino. At the foot of the copse are the old stables, designed by Inigo Jones. In the foreground are a woman and two men, one of whom is fishing. A punter standing in an ornamental boat is by the opposite bank.
Exhibited
BI 1814 (172 - View of Wilton); Birmingham 1948-49 (51); London 1949 (50)
Provenance
Henry, 10th Earl of Pembroke; thence by descent
Signature/inscription
Unsigned; no inscription
Techniques and materials
Uncharacteristic reddish-brown ground. The cedar trees at the right are strangely painted.
Related Drawings
D350/1 Study for Wilton House: Temple Copse and Stables, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Leonora Gurley Memorial Collection
Related Paintings
One of a set of five views of Wilton painted for Henry, 10th Earl of Pembroke (see 'Links' tab)
Critical commentary
The figures are Gainsboroughesque while the foreground to the right is bland and empty. These and other stylistic, qualitative and compositional discrepancies suggest that the picture was a collaborative effort between Wilson and his studio. The buildings and distant landscape, for example, are beautifully painted as are the clouds to the left of the temple.
Bibliography
N.R. Wilkinson, Wilton House Pictures, 1907, vol. 1, p. xxxv, no. 282 in numerical list as by Painter Unknown; Waterhouse 1953, p. 177; WGC, pp. 87-88, 189, pl. 59b; S. Pembroke, A Catalogue of the Paintings and Drawings in the Collection at Wilton House, Salisbury, Wiltshire, 1968, p. 36, cat. 86; Solkin 1978, p. 406, fig. 2; J. Harris, The Artist and the Country House, London 1979, pp. 276-77, pl. 298e; F. Russell, A Catalogue of the Pictures and Drawings at Wilton House, 2021, pp. 121-22, cat. 210; J.M. Robinson, Wilton House, 2021, pp. 163-67.
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
More Information
The grounds had been laid out with wide lawns and cedars of Lebanon by the 9th Earl in the 1730s. Note the figure with the roller in the shadows under the trees, lower left, and the figures in a carriage with outriders crossing the distant bridge.
Condition/Conservation
Unglazed. Cleaned and repaired in 1935. Conserved by Simon Foulkes and relined by Richard Watkiss, 2006. Kate Lowry has noted: In a gilt frame with ribbon motif matching that of P77. Stretcher size recorded by Simon Foukes: 39 1/2 x 57 3/4 in. (not 48 ins as given by Constable) 100.3 x 146.7 cm. Oil on canvas, probably relined. Not signed or dated. Red-brown ground. This is visible underlying the sky especially around foliage of pine tree. The tree is not a typical choice for Wilson and the figures are in a sort of Gainsborough style. The foreground is curiously blank and devoid of Wilson's foliage details. Very thin around the tree trunks at lower right. However the buildings in the middle and far distance look like his hand. Probably a good example of collaboration between Wilson and his pupils.
Updated by Compiler
2021-12-20 00:00:00