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    300 years
    "Munich 1979-80" is linked to these Works
    of 9

    The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)

    The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
    The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
    The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
    Metropolitan Museum New York Rogers Fund, 1906
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    The Baths of Caracalla at Albano (The House of Pompey at Albano)
    Date
    Mid-1750s
    Medium
    Black chalk and stump touched with white on grey-green toned paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 219 x 381 mm
    Imperial: 8 5/8 x 15 in.
    Collection
    Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    06.1042.20
    Wilson Online Reference
    D334
    Description
    Albano is seen from the south east. On the right are the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, currently known as the Terme di Cellomaio, which stand between the present Via Vascarelle and Via Giacomo Matteotti on the lower side of the town.
    Exhibited
    Detroit & Philadelpia 1968 (2); Munich 1979-80 (105 - Das Haus des Pompeius in Albano); Tercentenary 2014 (27)
    Provenance
    Roger Eliot Fry (1866-1934), Highgate, Middlesex; purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Rogers Fund 1906.
    Signature/inscription
    Inscribed by Wilson, upper right corner: Baths of Pompey at Albano
    Subject
    Traditionally the subject has been referred to as the 'House of Pompey at Albano' in the literature. However, the town of Albano lies 25 kilometres from Rome. Robin Simon has vindicated the accuracy of Wilson's inscription on the present drawing by demonstrating that rather than showing the ruins of Pompey's house in the grounds of the Villa Doria there, the view shows, at the right, the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, on the lower, south east side of the town.
    Related Works by Other Artists
    Adolf Friedrich Harper, Baths of Caracalla at Albano, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
    Critical commentary
    This unfinished sketch was undoubtedly made on the spot, probably with a view to being worked up as a presentation drawing later, as suggested by David Solkin. However, it was presumably retained in Wilson's studio for copying by his students, as confirmed by the existence of a copy by Adolf Friedrich Harper (Staatsgalerie Stuttgart).
    Bibliography
    Solkin 1978, p. 405, pl.17; Conisbee 1996, p. 109, fig. 1; Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 223

    Exhibitions

    • Munich, Haus der Kunst, 21 November 1979 - 27 January 1980
    • New Haven, Yale Center for British Art & Cardiff, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, 6 March - 29 October 2014
    • Detroit Institute of Arts & Philadelphia Museum of Art, 9 January - 21 April 1968

    Documents

    • David Solkin, 'Some New Light on the Drawings of Richard Wilson'
    • Martin Postle & Robin Simon, Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting
    • Philip Conisbee, In the Light of Italy: Corot and early open-air Painting
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