Study of Figures for 'Ego fui in Arcadia'

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Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

Study of Figures for 'Ego fui in Arcadia'

Date

c.1755 (undated)

Medium

Black chalk with white gouache on medium, rough-textured, blue-grey laid paper mounted on thick, moderately-textured, cream laid paper

Dimensions

Metric: 194 x 271 mm
Imperial: 7 5/8 x 10 11/16 in.

Collection

Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven. To license images click here

Accession Number

B1977.14.6060

Wilson Online Reference

D385

Description

Two men in antique costume, the nearer carrying a long staff, stand in contemplation before a large inscribed stone fragment at the lower right

Exhibited

Birmingham 1948-9 (119 - Study for Cicero's Villa); London 1949 (118)

Provenance

Archibald G.B. Russell (1879-1955); Pickles sale, Sotheby's 11 July 1928 (72), bt Maser (£1); Witt collectrion; Thomas Lowinsky; Mrs Thomas Lowinsky; acquired 1977

Signature/inscription

Inscribed in black chalk on stone fragment, lower right: 'EGO FVI IN | ARCADIA'

Collectors' marks

1) Recto, upper left. 'TEL' in circle: Thomas Lowinsky (Lugt 2420a)
2) Recto, lower left. crown above flower [?]
3) Verso 'RM' in hexagonal shape

Subject

The theme deals with mortality and the transience of human existence. It occurs in a number of seventeenth-century paintings, notably one by Guercino and two by Nicolas Poussin.

Related Drawings

D53/39 Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 39

Related Paintings

P69 Ego fui in Arcadia, Private Collection, England

Related Works by Other Artists

[1] Guercino, Et in Arcadia Ego c.1618-22, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome;
[2] Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1627, Chatsworth House;
[3] Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-38, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Critical commentary

This is a study for the Arcadian shepherds in P69 Ego fui in Arcadia. Wilson may have been initially inspired by Guercino's Et in Arcadia Ego, which in his day was in the Corsini Gallery, Rome.

Previous Cat/Ref Nos

Object ID:15146

Bibliography

B. Ford, Country Life, 19 November 1948, p. 1054 (repr.); Ford 1951, p. 54, pl. 18; WGC, p. 160 under pl. 17b; Ford 1952, p. 313, fig. 4; Spencer-Longhurst 2012, pp. 71-72, fig.41

More Information

The form of the inscription differs from the more usual 'Et in Arcadia Ego', used by Poussin and other artists

Condition/Conservation

Dimensions of mount: 198 x 276 mm; 7 13/16 x 10 7/8 in.

Updated by Compiler

2017-01-16 00:00:00

Study of Figures for 'Ego fui in Arcadia'

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