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    Return to "London 2012" is linked to these Works 11 items
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    Meleager and Atalanta

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    Meleager and Atalanta
    Meleager and Atalanta
    Meleager and Atalanta
    Royal Academy of Arts, London
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    Artist
    William Woollett (1735-1785) and Benjamin Thomas Pouncy after Wilson
    Title
    Meleager and Atalanta
    Date
    Published 21 May 1794
    Medium
    Etching and engraving
    Dimensions
    Metric: 390 X 533 mm
    Imperial: 15 3/8 x 21 in.
    Collection
    Royal Academy of Arts, London. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    05/3068
    Wilson Online Reference
    E55
    Description
    A wild landscape with a castle and aqueduct in the distance is shown before a stormy sky. In a clearing by a waterfall a group of men surround an enormous boar and Meleager, on horseback, drives a spear into it. His colleague, Anceus, lies fallen and Atalanta, with two female attendants, aims an arrow at the beast from the far left.
    Exhibited
    London 2012 (unnumbered)
    Provenance
    Purchased from Thomas Cadell the younger's executors, 27 March 1844
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below the image:
    [1] Upper left: Landskip painted by R. Wilson Figures by Mr Mortimer
    [2] Upper right: Engraved by W. Woollett & B. Pouncy.
    [3] Centre: MELEAGER and ATALANTE. See Ovids Metamors. Book VIII Pa. 54 |
    [4] Lower centre: Engraved from the Original Picture in the Possession of James Sayer, Esqr.
    [5] Lower centre, publication line: Published 21st. May 1794, by LAURIE & WHITTLE, 53 Fleet Street, London.
    Subject
    The subject is taken from the Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC - AD 17/18) known as Ovid. The lovers Meleager and Atalanta killed a huge boar sent by the goddess Diana to devastate the countryside of Calydon. Meleager presented the hide to Atalanta but his uncles, the sons of Thestius, took it from her, whereupon he killed them, leading to his own death (Metamorphoses Book VIII, lines 260-546).
    Related Drawings
    D167 Study of an antique Altar, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Dyce.661)
    Related Prints
    E23 Richard Earlom after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, 1771, The British Museum (2006,U.403) and other impressions
    E46 William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, 1779, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven (B1977.14.14568) and other impressions
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Related Paintings
    P163 Meleager and Atalanta, Tate, London
    Related Works by Other Artists
    NWD406 Ascribed to John Hamilton Mortimer after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta
    Critical commentary
    The first recorded owner of P163, was the print and map publisher, Robert Sayer, who commissioned Richard Earlom to produce a mezzotint after the painting, published in 1771 (E23). Sayer went on to publish a second engraving (E46) by Woollett and Pouncy in 1779 and his successors from 1793, Laurie and Whittle, published the present one by the same printmakers in 1794 - all testaments to the enduring popularity of the subject. In 1779 Sayer paid John Hamilton Mortimer to replace some of Wilson's figures with his own, to the understandable annoyance of Wilson. Probably at the latter's insistence the distinction between the artists was recorded in the lettering of later states of E46 as well as the present print.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    PL006185
    Bibliography
    Booth Notes Doc. 4; Booth Notes Doc. 7
    More Information
    Bound in a 19th century volume with Charles Hullmandel's lithographic 24 Views of Italy, 1818
    Condition/Conservation
    Conserved 2012 by Emma Cox
    Updated by Compiler
    2017-08-08 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Study of an antique Altar, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    Prints

    • Richard Earlom after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, The British Museum
    • Richard Earlom after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and Benjamin Thomas Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • William Woollett (1735-1785) and Benjamin Thomas Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, The British Museum

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Meleager and Atalanta, Tate, London

    Works by Other Artists

    • Ascribed to John Hamilton Mortimer after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta

    Exhibitions

    • London, Royal Academy, 8 December 2012 - 17 February 2013

    Biographies

    • William Woollett (1735-1785)

    Documents

    • Benjamin Booth, Unpublished Notes, Document 4: Biographical Fragments and abandoned List of Works
    • Benjamin Booth, Unpublished Notes, Document 7: List of Prints after Wilson's Paintings
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