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
    "Clark & Bowron 1985" is linked to these Works
    of 35

    The Temple of Bacchus

    The Temple of Bacchus
    The Temple of Bacchus
    The Temple of Bacchus
    The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. 2004.43. Purchased on the Sunny Crawford von Bülow Fund 1978.
    title=Credit line
    Larger imageShareFeedback
    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    The Temple of Bacchus
    Date
    Dated 1754
    Medium
    Black chalk and stump, heightened with white chalk, on blue paper, faded to grey-green
    Dimensions
    Metric: 278 x 423 mm
    Imperial: 10 15/16 x 16 5/8 in.
    Collection
    The Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    2004.43
    Wilson Online Reference
    D307
    Description
    Framed by three stone pines on the right, a group of buildings is seen in the middle distance, with a ruined circular one in the centre. Beyond this at the right another circular building with a domed roof is the former Temple of Bacchus, now the Church of Santa Constanza. At the left more buildings include the tower and upper part of the Church of Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura. In the left foreground is an open stone sarcophagus, with its lid propped against it. In the centre two women accompanied by a dog converse with a seated man.
    Exhibited
    Birmingham 1948-49 (78); London 1949 (77)
    Provenance
    William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801); by descent to William, 8th Earl of Dartmouth; his sale, Christie's, London, 29 January 1954 (11); Agnew’s, London; from whom acquired by C.L. Loyd, Lockinge, Berkshire; acquired by the Pierpont Morgan Library from Agnew’s, London through the Sunny Crawford von Bülow Fund, 1978
    Signature/inscription
    See 'Mount inscriptions'
    Verso inscriptions
    [1] Inscribed verso: No. 49
    Mount inscriptions
    [1] Signed and dated on border, lower left: RW.f Romae 1754.
    [2] Inscribed on cartellino, lower centre: Temple | of | Bacchus.
    [3] Inscribed on border, lower right: No. 9
    Related Drawings
    D274 Temple of Bacchus, Rome , Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
    Critical commentary
    A presentation version of a drawing made on the spot, this is 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. 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. Joseph Farington recorded in his Diary, 'Steers called, has bought a picture by Wilson (The Temple of Bacchus) for 48 guineas.' (21 March 1799). This painting is no longer known. The less elaborate version of the present drawing, however, is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (D274).
    Bibliography
    Farington Diary, vol. 4, p. 1180; vol. 7, p. 2775 (1 June 1806); Farington Biographical Note p. 12; Ford 1948, p. 345, no. 9; Ford 1951, pp. 30-31, 59, no. 52; L. Parris, The Loyd Collection of Paintings and Drawings, 1967, p. 76, no. 138; Clark & Bowron 1985, p. 267 under cat. 195
    More Information
    This is one of 20 views of the environs of Rome referred to by Thomas Jenkins a letter dated 1 June 1754. Of these only no. 1 is missing from the serial numbers recorded in the lower right corner of each. All the Dartmouth drawings have numbers in graphite on the back, ranging (with gaps) from 23 to 61, thus supporting the total of 68 given by Farington. The mounts of all the surviving Dartmouth drawings, with their lilac wash borders, were made by Wilson or under his direction, perhaps by Jenkins.

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Temple of Bacchus, Rome , Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

    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)

    Documents

    • Joseph Farington, The Diary of Joseph Farington, July 1793 - December 1821
    • Brinsley Ford, 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