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
    Return to "Roberts" is linked to these Works 4 items
    of 4

    The White Monk (Untitled)

    This item is active and ready to use
    The White Monk (Untitled)
    The White Monk (Untitled)
    The White Monk (Untitled)
    The Trustees of the British Museum
    title=Credit line
    Larger imageShareFeedback
    Artist
    James Roberts (1725-1799) after Wilson
    Title
    The White Monk (Untitled)
    Date
    Published 25 August 1765
    Medium
    Etching and engraving
    Dimensions
    Metric: 344 x 415 mm
    Imperial: 13 1/2 x 16 5/16 in.
    Collection
    The British Museum. To license image, click here
    Accession Number
    1872,0511.391
    Wilson Online Reference
    E17
    Description
    Landscape with two monks or friars praying before a wayside cross on the rocks in the middle right distance before a lurid sky.In the left foreground two women sit beneath trees, one turning to look at a figure passing on horseback in the centre. A town can be seen across the lake or river, with mountains beyond.
    Provenance
    1872 Purchased from George Love (1804-1883), 81 Bunhill Row, Finsbury, London, as part of a group 428 prints
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below image with title, production detail: 'Richd. Wilson pinxt', 'Jas. Roberts Sculpt' and publication line: 'Publish'd according to Act of Parliament by J. Boydell, Engraver in Cheapside, London, Augt. 25. 1765'; numbered 'No. 4' in lower left hand corner
    Subject
    The subject and thence the meaning remain open to multiple interpretations. Solkin memorably explained its attraction as a moral landscape by an emblematic interpretation of the Platonic philosophical concept of concordia discors, or the harmonious union of opposing elements, where 'the chaotic multiplicity of nature has yielded to the ordering hand of art.' (Solkin 1982, p. 66). He saw the inclusion of monks on the promontory as reassurance of a world anchored in divinely ordained harmony and reinforcing the moral certitude and authority of the patrician class who patronised the artist.
    Related Prints
    E68 Anonymous after Wilson, The White Monk (Stafford Gallery), The British Museum
    E70 Samuel Middiman after Wilson,The White Monk (Untitled), The British Museum
    E72/22 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, The White Monk, The British Museum
    Related Paintings
    P146 Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The White Monk - III, Private Collection
    Bibliography
    Booth Notes Doc. 7 [?];
    Link to WG Constable Archive Record
    WGC/1/1/138

    Work of Art

    Prints

    • Anonymous after Wilson, The White Monk (Stafford Gallery), The British Museum
    • Samuel Middiman after Wilson, The White Monk (Untitled), The British Museum
    • Thomas Hastings after Wilson, The White Monk, The British Museum

    Versions

    • James Roberts (1725-1799)after Wilson, The White Monk (Untitled), National Museum Wales, Cardiff

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The White Monk - III, Private Collection

    Biographies

    • James Roberts (1725-1799) (1725-1799)

    Documents

    • Benjamin Booth, Unpublished Notes, Document 7: List of Prints after Wilson's Paintings
    © Richard Wilson OnlineCreditsCopyright & DisclaimerPrivacy