The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)

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Courtesy of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Metric: 34.3 x 43.2 cm
Imperial: 13 1/2 x 17 in.

Collection

Magdalen College, Oxford. To license image, click here.

Accession Number

P0808

Wilson Online Reference

P94A

Description

At the right a renaissance building surmounts a classical structure which has been built on a rock or artificial rampart. In the centre foreground a man sits resting by a rock and a woman with a baby in arms stands next to him. The ground falls away to a river and bridge at the left.

Exhibited

Perhaps BI 1817 (30 lent Benjamin West)

Provenance

Perhaps Benjamin West sale, Christie's 28 May 1824 (20), bt Rogers; Samuel Rogers sale, Christie's 28 April 1856 (712 - 'Italian Landscape with a convent on a rocky height ... From President West's Collection'), bt W. Sharp; [...] Col. M.H. Grant; bt October 1946 by Lt. Col. R.H.R. Brocklebank; bequeathed by him to Magdalen College, Oxford, 1965

Subject

A number of locations have been proposed over the years, all of which Constable dismissed, apart from Sta Maria Aventina, which he believe fitted the composition in some respects but not all, notably the inclusion of the bridge at the left, which occupies the position of the Pons Sublicius, destroyed in 780 AD.

Versions

See 'Links' tab

Related Works by Other Artists

[1] J.M.W. Turner, Wilson Sketchbook, 1796-97, p. pp. 98-99, Tate, London

Critical commentary

As noted by W.G. Constable, this version differs from P94 (Upton House collection) in minor details. In 1803, possibly referring to this picture, Joseph Farington recorded in his diary that '[Benjamin] West [P.R.A.] has been cleaning his collection of pictures. ... He dwelt upon his little picture of the Convent on the Rock by Wilson, saying it was coloured equal to Cuyp or Both & in parts like Titian. - Wilson was only defficient [sic] in not understanding the value of a ground tint, but used the thick colour in those parts where the ground tint should prevail.'

Bibliography

Farington Diary, vol. 6, pp. 2136-37 (Sunday 2 October 1803); [?] Cook & Wedderburn, vol. 3, p. 189; WGC, p. 198, pl. 76a (version 3); H. Brocklebank, A Turn or two I'll walk to still my beating Mind: Commentary on a Private Collection, London, 1955, pp. 45-51.

More Information

The present title is the title that was used by Farington. Others abound, including View in Italy, , Convento della Vittoria and Sta Maria Aventina.

Updated by Compiler

2022-06-17 00:00:00

The Convent on the Rock (Santa Maria Aventina)

Work of Art

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