Skip to content
Log inRegister
    HomePaintingsDrawingsPrintsBrowse all worksWilson collectionsWilson collections mapTercentenary exhibitionOther exhibitionsProject highlightsThemes and mediaBiographiesBibliographical Resources
    Advanced search
    Work of ArtBiographiesExhibitionsBibliographical Resources
    Settings
    Pages
    300 years
    "Birmingham 1948-49" is linked to these Works
    of 90

    St Peter's from the West (A View of Rome with Saint Peter's)

    St Peter's from the West (A View of Rome with Saint Peter's)
    St Peter's from the West (A View of Rome with Saint Peter's)
    St Peter's from the West (A View of Rome with Saint Peter's)
    Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
    title=Credit line
    Larger imageShareFeedback
    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    St Peter's from the West (A View of Rome with Saint Peter's)
    Date
    c.1754 (undated)
    Medium
    Chalk on paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 282 x 422 mm
    Imperial: 11 1/4 x 16 5/8 in.
    Collection
    Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, Aberdeen. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    ABDAG003507
    Wilson Online Reference
    D322
    Description
    Rome is seen from the west
    Exhibited
    Birmingham 1948-49 (90); London 1949 (89); Agnews 85th Annual Exhibition of Watercolour Drawings, 1956
    Provenance
    Commissioned about 1753 in Rome by William, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth; by descent until sold Christie's, 29 January 1954 (26); with Agnew & Co., London; purchased by Aberdeen Art Gallery 1958 with income from the Webster Bequest
    Signature/inscription
    Signed lowerleft: RW f.and inscribed
    Verso inscriptions
    [1] 23
    Mount inscriptions
    [1] Marked on mount: A
    Subject
    The drawing is one of a few that do not depict ruins of the classical age. Wilson made one other drawing and two oil paintings of the same subject.
    Critical commentary
    One of a major series of drawings commissioned by William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801) in 1754, of which 25 are known to survive. The Dartmouth set is the most important group of the artist's finished compositions on paper. Originally numbering 68, the drawings were highly prized by the earl and much admired by connoisseurs and artists of the day including William Lock of Norbury, and the artists John Hoppner and Joseph Farington. Hoppner said of them, 'they were such as the Greeks would have made & put all others at a distance' and Farington was almost certainly referring to them when he characterised Wilson's drawings as having 'all the qualities of his pictures except the colour.' Drawings from the set are distinguished by a white mount with lilac wash border, on which the artist attached a small white label, bearing the title of the work.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    58.12
    Bibliography
    Farington Diary, vol. 7, p. 2775 (1 June 1806); Farington Biographical Note p. 12; Ford 1948, p. 345, A; Aberdeeen Art Gallery, Permanent Collection Catalogue, 1968, p. 100; Solkin 1978, pp. 405-6, pl. 19; Clark & Bowron 1985, p. 267 under cat. 195
    More Information
    From the original 68 drawings of the Dartmouth commission, 25 were rediscovered in 1948 by Lady Dartmouth at Patshull House, West Midlands. Of these, 19 represent Rome and its environs. The drawings are mentioned by Thomas Jenkins in his correspondence with Lord Dartmouth in 1754. Jenkins was acting as Dartmouth's agent in Rome and probably brought Wilson to his attention.
    Condition/Conservation
    Dimensions framed: 467 x 595 mm (18 6/16 x 23 7/16 in.)

    Exhibitions

    • Birmingham City Art Gallery, 17 November 1948 - 9 January 1949
    • London, Tate Gallery, 22 January - 14 March 1949

    Biographies

    • William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801)
    • Thomas Jenkins (1722-1798)

    Documents

    • David Solkin, 'Some New Light on the Drawings of Richard Wilson'
    • Anthony M. Clark and Edgar Peters Bowron, Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of his Works with an Introductory Text
    • Brinsley Ford, 'The Dartmouth Collection of Drawings by Richard Wilson'
    © Richard Wilson OnlineCreditsCopyright & DisclaimerPrivacy