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    300 years
    "Booth, M." is linked to these Works
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    The Vale of Narni.

    The Vale of Narni.
    The Vale of Narni.
    The Vale of Narni.
    The Trustees of the British Museum
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    Artist
    Thomas Hastings after Wilson
    Title
    The Vale of Narni.
    Date
    Published February 1821
    Medium
    Etching on chine collé
    Dimensions
    Metric: 235 x 181 mm
    Imperial: 9 1/4 x 7 1/8 in.
    Collection
    The British Museum. To license image, click here
    Accession Number
    1854,0708.65
    Wilson Online Reference
    E72/8
    Description
    In the centre beneath a group of stone pines a man and a woman are holding an animated conversation while next to them on the right two women and a child recline on the ground, surveying the river valley and distant mountains.
    Provenance
    Bought from George Willis, Piazza, Covent Garden, 1854
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below the image with the title: 'The Vale of Narni. | about 40 Miles from Rome.'; also 'The Original is in the Possession of Lady Ford.', production details and publication line: 'Painted by R. Wilson. | 1770 [or 76]' ' Etched by T Hastings 1821 | Pubd. in London Feby. 1821'
    Subject
    The actual Vale of Narni is about 40 miles north of Rome, in Umbria, almost at the geographic centre of Italy. Wilson passed through or near Narni on his way to Rome and he incorporated its famous broken bridge into several capriccios such as P66 Landscape Capriccio on the Via Aemilia, Private Collection, New York. However, the title first appears with this print and the scene may have been invented by Wilson soon after his return to London. If intended as topographical the view may be along the River Nera valley to the east of Narni, towards the high Apennines in the distance.
    Related Paintings
    P102 The Vale of Narni, Private Collection, England
    Critical commentary
    From a series of forty etchings after paintings by Richard Wilson and additional title page, bound in a volume in red tooled leather with gold decorative border, lettered on the spine with 'Wilson's | Etchings | by | Hastings'; the title page lettered in black and red: 'Etchings, | from the Works | of | [ facsimile of signature below portrait] Ric. Wilson | with Some Memoirs of his Life, &c. | by Thomas Hastings, Esq. | Collector of His Majesty's Customs. | "Non Ductus Officio Sed Amore Operis." Quintillian. | Published by Hurst, Robinson & Co. Cheapside, London. | Johnson, Typ. Apollo Press, 1825. Brook Street, Holborn'; containing twenty pages of Introductory and Concluding Remarks by the etcher, including descriptions of Richard Wilson's original paintings.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    PPA324279
    Bibliography
    Hastings 1825; WGC, p. 206 under pl. 90b; Yule 2015, pp. 60 & 69
    More Information
    George Willis was an antiquarian book dealer, who occasionally published books and prints. His firm was active from 1832-1856 and sold many prints to the British Museum. In 1856 it merged with Thomas Sotheran to become Willis & Sotheran.
    Updated by Compiler
    09/12/2015

    Work of Art

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The Vale of Narni, Private Collection, England

    Biographies

    • Captain Thomas Hastings (1778-1854)
    • Marianne Booth, Lady Ford (1767-1849)

    Documents

    • Thomas Hastings, Etchings from the Works of Ric. Wilson, with some Memoirs of his Life &c.
    This print is part of the "Etchings from the Works of Richard Wilson British Museum" sketchbook
    View sketchbook pages
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