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    Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 6

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    Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 6
    Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 6
    Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 6
    Victoria & Albert Museum, London
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Studies and Designs done in Rome in the Year 1752, p. 6
    Date
    1752
    Medium
    Black chalk on white paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 188 x 130 mm (volume: 203 x 143 mm)
    Imperial: 8 x 5 5/8 in.
    Collection
    Victoria & Albert Museum, London. To license image, click here
    Accession Number
    E.3586-1922
    Wilson Online Reference
    D53/6
    Description
    View of a ruined building with a spire seen above the remains of a wall, visible in the middle distance. Two figures rest amongst classical rubble in the left foreground before a portico.
    Provenance
    Bt about 1922 from Miss Alice J. Bowles
    Subject
    The subject may be an elegiac contemplation of past architectural glories
    Related Prints
    E60/11 Studies & Designs: View of a ruined Building with a Spire seen above the Remains of a Wall,. The British Museum
    E60/11A View of a ruined Building with a Spire seen above the Remains of a Wall, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
    Critical commentary
    Wilson's commitment to landscape made soon after his arrival in Rome in late 1751 initiated a sustained burst of activity as a draughtsman which was to gain momentum over the next few years. One major piece of evidence for the seriousness with which he took his new career is provided by the pages of this surviving sketchbook from 1752. Although it contains a number of rapid sketches from nature and the antique, most of its leaves are filled with imaginary essays in landscape design, usually incorporating classical themes such as antique ruins but presented in a rococo manner, 'using lazy curving forms and often capricious combinations of architectural motifs in a way that still recalls the works of Zuccarelli. From this time onwards, however, Wilson slowly but surely abandoned this fantastic notion of landscape art in favour of focusing his attention on the outside world. (Solkin 1982, p. 152)
    Bibliography
    Sutton & Clements 1968, pp. 15-16, fig. 18; Solkin 1982, pp. 152, 157
    More Information
    Only two sketchbooks by Wilson have survived - the present one (D53-D53/81) and D280-D280/33 Italian Sketchbook - Drawings, 1754, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
    Updated by Compiler
    2017-09-19 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Prints

    • Studies & Designs: View of a ruined Building with a Spire seen above the Remains of a Wall,. The British Museum
    • View of a ruined Building with a Spire seen above the Remains of a Wall, National Museum Wales, Cardiff

    Documents

    • Denys Sutton & Ann Clements, An Italian Sketchbook by Richard Wilson, RA: Drawings made by the Artist in Rome and its Environs in the Year 1754
    This drawing is part of the "Italian Sketchbook Victoria & Albert Museum 1752" sketchbook
    View sketchbook pages
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