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    Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I

    Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I
    Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I
    Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I
    Tate, London 2014
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    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I
    Date
    c.1765-70 (undated)
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    Metric: 101.5 X 127 cm
    Imperial: 40 x 50 in.
    Collection
    Tate, London. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    T01706
    Wilson Online Reference
    P142B
    Description
    The town of Tivoli is seen from the north east across the gorge of the river Aniene (or 'Anio'), with the Roman Campagna and the city of Rome itself in the distance. To the left, on the cliff edge, is a small cluster of ancient buildings. These include the circular Roman Temple of Vesta and the rectangular Temple of the Tiburtine Sibyl.
    Exhibited
    London, Agnew, May-June 1937 (11)
    Provenance
    Captain T.A. Tatton, M.C., J.P., Cuerden Hall, Preston, sold Christie's, 20 November 1936 (36), bt Thomas Agnew & Sons (#8012, £73.10); 3 June 1937, E.F. Collingwood; Sotheby's 11 July 1962 (112); accepted by H.M. Government in lieu of tax and allocated to the Tate Gallery, April 1973
    Signature/inscription
    Unsigned; no inscripton
    Techniques and materials
    Linen thread canvas, 14 threads per sq m, simple. The tree was painted in first and the background later.
    Verso inscriptions
    [1] Lower part of cross member: No 57
    Labels
    [1] Agnew's
    Subject
    Tivoli is about 20 kilometres from Rome, on the lower slopes of the Sabine Hills. Its finest ruin, the so-called Temple of Vesta (also known as the Temple of the Tiburtine Sibyl), is a circular building dating from the first century BC. Situated dramatically above the a precipice and cascade, it has been admired by artists since the 16th century because of its picturesque location and became a famous site for Grand Tourists to visit. It is viewed here from the north-east.
    Related Drawings
    D165 Landscape with a Palace at the Summit of a Mountain, Victoria & Albert Museum (Dyce.656)
    D244 The Falls at Tivoli, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
    Related Prints
    E15 William Byrne after Wilson, Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna (untitled), 1765, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven (B1984.21.429) and other impressions
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Critical commentary
    There is an overall hardness to some of the outlines
    Bibliography
    WGC, p. 223, pl. 115a; Solkin 1982, p. 183 under 66
    More Information
    By the first century BC, Tivoli (the classical town of Tibur) was a favourite resort of Rome's elite, including the Emperor Augustus and the poet Horace.
    Condition/Conservation
    Rather yellowed discolouration

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Landscape with a Palace at the Summit of a Mountain, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), The Falls at Tivoli, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

    Prints

    • William Byrne (1743-1805) after Wilson, Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna (untitled), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • William Byrne (1743-1805) after Wilson, Landscape - a traveller with a dog on a road (untitled), The British Museum
    • William Byrne (1743-1805) after Wilson, Landscape - a traveller with a dog on a road (untitled), The British Museum
    • William Byrne (1743-1805) after Wilson, Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna (untitled), Royal Academy of Arts, London

    Versions

    • Richard Wilson and Studio Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I (A Distant View of Rome from Tivoli), Private Collection, England
    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782) Tivoli: Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna - I (Tivoli and the Roman Campagna with a Man and Woman), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

    Exhibitions

    • London, Thomas Agnew & Sons, May - June 1937

    Documents

    • William George Constable, Richard Wilson
    • David Solkin, Richard Wilson: The Landscape of Reaction
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