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    300 years
    Return to "Wilson and Europe 2014 " is linked to these Works 122 items
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    Meleager and Atalanta

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    Meleager and Atalanta
    Meleager and Atalanta
    Meleager and Atalanta
    National Museum Wales, Cardiff
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    Artist
    Richard Earlom (1743-1822) after Wilson
    Title
    Meleager and Atalanta
    Date
    Published 20 September 1771
    Medium
    Mezzotint with etching on laid paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 480 x 592 mm (sheet size)
    Imperial: 19 x 23 1/4 in. (sheet size)
    Collection
    National Museum Wales, Cardiff. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    NMW A 11012
    Wilson Online Reference
    E23A
    Description
    In a clearing before a waterfall a group of men surround a giant boar on the right and Meleager, on horseback, drives a spear into the beast. Anceus lies fallen next to it but Atalanta, with two female attendants, is aiming an arrow from the far left. A castle and aqueduct can be seen in the distance.
    Exhibited
    Tercentenary 2014 (107)
    Provenance
    Acquired from Suckling & Co. 1930
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below image:
    [1] Upper left: R. Wilson pinxt.
    [2] Upper centre: Robt. Sayer Excudit.
    [3] Upper right: R. Earlom sculp.
    [4] Lower centre: MELEAGER and ATALANTA | See Ovids Metamors. Book VIII. Pa. 54
    [5] Lower centre: From an ORIGINAL PICTURE in the Possession of Mr. Sayer.
    [6] Lower right publication line: London. Printed for Robt. Sayer, Map & Printseller. No. 53 in Fleet Street.
    [7] Lower right: Published as the Act directs Sepr. 20. 1771.
    Verso inscriptions
    [1] Lower right, pencil: 30/-
    Subject
    The subject is taken from the Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC-AD 17/18) known as Ovid. The lovers Meleager and Atalanta killed a huge boar sent by the goddess Diana to devastate the countryside of Calydon. Meleager presented the hide to Atalanta but his uncles, the sons of Thestius, took it from her, whereupon he killed them, leading to his own death (Metamorphoses Book VIII, lines 260-546).
    Related Drawings
    D167 Study of an antique Altar, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
    Related Prints
    E46 William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, 1779, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven and other impressions
    E55 William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, 1794, Royal Academy of Arts, London and other impressions
    E72/32 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, The Murder, The British Museum
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Related Paintings
    P163 Meleager and Atalanta, Tate, London
    Related Works by Other Artists
    NWD406 Ascribed to John Hamilton Mortimer after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    30.160
    1930.1
    Bibliography
    Edwards 1808, p. 88; Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 288
    Condition/Conservation
    Image size: 445 x 560 mm (17 1/2 x 22 in.); plate size: 466 x 560 mm (18 3/8 x 22 in.). Discoloured. Trimmed. Flattened horizontal fold across entire upper surface - invisible from front. Repaired tear lower right.
    Updated by Compiler
    2017-06-01 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Study of an antique Altar, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    Prints

    • William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, The British Museum
    • William Woollett and Benjamin Pouncy after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, Royal Academy of Arts, London
    • Thomas Hastings after Wilson, The Murder, The British Museum

    Versions

    • Richard Earlom (1743-1822)after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta, The British Museum

    Paintings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Meleager and Atalanta, Tate, London

    Works by Other Artists

    • Ascribed to John Hamilton Mortimer after Wilson, Meleager and Atalanta

    Exhibitions

    • New Haven, Yale Center for British Art & Cardiff, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, 6 March - 29 October 2014

    Biographies

    • Richard Earlom (1743-1822)
    • Robert Sayer (1725-1794)

    Documents

    • Martin Postle & Robin Simon, Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting
    • Edward Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters who have resided or been born in England; with critical Remarks on their Productions
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