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    300 years
    Return to "Walpole Society 1998" is linked to these Works 67 items
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    Circus of Maxentius and Tomb of Cecilia Metella

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    Circus of Maxentius and Tomb of Cecilia Metella
    Circus of Maxentius and Tomb of Cecilia Metella
    Circus of Maxentius and Tomb of Cecilia Metella
    Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Circus of Maxentius and Tomb of Cecilia Metella
    Date
    c.1754 (undated)
    Medium
    Black chalk on grey paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 102 x 254 mm
    Imperial: 4 x 10 in.
    Collection
    Private Collection, England
    Wilson Online Reference
    D272
    Description
    The view is towards the west on what is currently the edge of the Via Appia Pignatelli, Rome. To the left in the middle distance, stands the round tower of the mausoleum of Caecilia Metella - one of the most imposing classical remains on the Via Appia Antica.
    Provenance
    Parsons; bt Captain Richard Ford; given to Sir Brinsley Ford
    Signature/inscription
    Inscribed (not by Wilson) lower left corner in black chalk: The Tomb of Cecilia Metella
    Inscribed lower centre right in black chalk in same hand: Circus of Maxentius
    Inscribed lower right corner in black chalk in a different hand: R. Wilson
    Subject
    The Circus of Maxentius was known in the 18th century as the Circus of Caracalla. It was part of a palace complex flanking the Via Appia Antica, built by the Emperor Maxentius in 306-12 AD. The Tomb of Cecilia Metella is a mausoleum located just outside Rome at the three mile marker of the Via Appia. It was built during the 1st century BC to commemorate the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a consul in 69 BC.
    Related Drawings
    D273 Circus of Caracalla, Tate, London
    D273A The Circus of Caracalla, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
    Related Prints
    E33 Edward Rooker after Wilson, Circus of Caracalla (from Twelve Original Views in Italy), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven and other impressions
    Critical commentary
    A panoramic view taken on the spot. On the reverse is a rapid sketch of leaves.
    Bibliography
    Solkin 1978, pp. 404-5, pl. 16b; Walpole Society 1998-II, p. 266, RBF570
    More Information
    The Tomb of Cecilia Metella was described by Captain Richard Ford as 'a favourite "meet" when I hunted in Rome.'
    Condition/Conservation
    Considerably rubbed and faded

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Circus of Caracalla, Tate, London
    • The Circus of Caracalla, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

    Prints

    • Edward Rooker after Wilson, Circus of Caracalla (from Twelve Original Views in Italy), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven and other impressions

    Documents

    • David Solkin, 'Some New Light on the Drawings of Richard Wilson'
    • Brinsley Ford and other authors, The Ford Collection
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