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    Return to "Birmingham 1948-49" is linked to these Works 90 items
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    Ego fui in Arcadia (Shepherds in the Campagna)

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    Ego fui in Arcadia (Shepherds in the Campagna)
    Ego fui in Arcadia (Shepherds in the Campagna)
    Ego fui in Arcadia (Shepherds in the Campagna)
    Private Collection, England / Photograph by Christopher Chard
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Ego fui in Arcadia (Shepherds in the Campagna)
    Date
    1755
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    Metric: 109.2 x 135.9 cm
    Imperial: 43 x 53 1/2 in.
    Collection
    Private Collection, England
    Wilson Online Reference
    P69
    Description
    Two Arcadian shepherds stand in contemplation of the transience of human life amidst the Roman Campagna. In the mid-distance the river is probably the Tiber and behind, what appears to be Mount Soratte. Fragments of antique sculpture and architecture include a column recalling that of Phocas in the Campo Vaccino.
    Exhibited
    BI 1867 (203 Landscape and Figures, lent Earl of Strafford); Birmingham 1948-49 (60); London 1949 (59); Kenwood 1967 (31); Kenwood 1974 (147); Munich 1979-80 (82); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (74)
    Provenance
    Sir George Colebrooke (1729-1809), probably bought directly from the artist; by descent to Lady Strafford; by descent to the Earl of Strafford; 1967, Lady Elizabeth Byng, Wrotham Park, Kent; 1974, Viscount and Viscountess Enfield, Abbot's Worthy House, Abbot's Worthy, Winchester; by descent to the present owner.
    Signature/inscription
    Signed and dated on masonry lower right: R.W.F. ROMA | 1755
    Inscribed on bas relief lower right: EGO FUI IN | ARCADIA
    Subject
    The theme had been painted in the 17th century by Guercino, Poussin and other artists.
    Related Drawings
    D53/39 Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 39
    D175 The Column of Phocas and the Campo Vaccino, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
    D385 Study of Figures for 'Ego fui in Arcadia', Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    Related Works by Other Artists
    William Hodges, Tomb and distant View of the Rajmahal Hills 1782, Tate, London (T00690)
    Critical commentary
    This is the latest known dated painting from Wilson's Italian period and one of his final elaborated essays in the manner of Claude. It is unusual in that preparatory drawings for the figures survive (see Related Drawings). Wilson's source for the subject may have been the (almost) eponymous painting by Guercino (c.1618-22, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome). The tombstone relief of Apollo standing with his lyre is close to a drawing in Wilson's V&A Sketchbook of 1752 (D53 facing p. 39).
    Bibliography
    B. Ford, 'The Art of Richard Wilson', Country Life, vol. 104, 19 November 1948, pp. 1054-56; Ford 1952, p. 313, fig.4; Waterhouse 1953, p. 175, pl. 140B; WGC, pp. 35, 71, 160, pl. 17b; E.K. Waterh ouse, Painting in Britain, 1978, p. 235; Solkin 1982, pp. 190-91; Baetjer 1993, p. 25; Quilley & Bonehill 2004, pp. 148-49
    Link to WG Constable Archive Record
    WGC/1/1/21
    Condition/Conservation
    Kate Lowry has noted: Framed in a simple gilt frame with slight ornamentation, perhaps contemporary with the painting. Unglazed. The support is a simple medium weight linen canvas, prepared with an off-white ground or possibly pale grey. This is visible only in the stones at lower right above the dark archway, where the paint does not quite cover the ground. A thin brown underpaint is visible beneath the mid-ground and the tree foliage. The foreground figures and stones are solidly painted with sharp highlights. The distant mountain landscape is thickly painted with the sky brought down over the highest peak left of centre, whilst the mountain to the right of centre has been extended over the sky paint. Smoke from a bonfire unites the distant plain with the far distant mountains. A red-brown tone in the trees is applied between the branches and foliage as part of the paint film and no reserve or ground for the foliage is evident. It was not possible to get a clear view of the reverse, but enough to see that the stretcher dates from 20th century and has seven members and square mortice joints with provision for keying out. The painting has been glue relined and possibly also more recently strip-lined to reinforce the turnover attachment. Wrinkling of paint in the distant landscape as well as the presence of some drying cracks in the sky suggest the painting may have suffered overheating during the lining treatment. No drying cracks appear in the foreground darks. The inscription 'Ego fui in Arcadia' appears to have been painted in twice and the pentiment of the first lettering is visible beneath the more neatly painted letters of the second attempt. There is a small recent damage to the centre sky, consisting of a dent to the canvas support and slight damage to the paint or varnish. Under UV light and in raking light, a possible pentiment is visible to the left of the man on horseback. Also under UV it was possible to confirm that, apart from the '1' of the '1755', the signature, date and inscription had not been retouched.
    Updated by Compiler
    2022-03-30 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 39
    • The Column of Phocas and the Campo Vaccino, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
    • Study of Figures for 'Ego fui in Arcadia', Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven

    Exhibitions

    • London, Tate Gallery, Cardiff, National Museum of Wales, and New Haven, Conn., Yale Center for British Art, 3 November 1982 - 19 June 1983
    • Birmingham City Art Gallery, 17 November 1948 - 9 January 1949
    • London, Tate Gallery, 22 January - 14 March 1949
    • Munich, Haus der Kunst, 21 November 1979 - 27 January 1980
    • London, Kenwood House, Iveagh Bequest, 8 June - 27 August 1974
    • London, Kenwood House, Iveagh Bequest, Summer 1967

    Biographies

    • Sir George Colebrook (1729-1809)

    Documents

    • William George Constable, Richard Wilson
    • David Solkin, Richard Wilson: The Landscape of Reaction
    • Brinsley Ford, The Drawings of Richard Wilson
    • Ellis Kirkham Waterhouse, Painting in Britain 1530-1790
    • Brinsley Ford, 'Richard Wilson in Rome: II - The Claudean Landscapes'
    • Geoff Quilley & John Bonehill, William Hodges 1744-1797: The Art of Exploration
    • Katherine Baetjer, Glorious Nature: British Landscape Painting 1750-1850
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