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    Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)

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    Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
    Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
    Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
    Royal Academy of Arts, London
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    Artist
    Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801) after Wilson
    Title
    Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy)
    Date
    Undated
    Medium
    Etching
    Dimensions
    Metric: 150 x 237 mm
    Imperial: 5 7/8 x 9 5/16 in.
    Collection
    Royal Academy of Arts, London. To license image, click here.
    Accession Number
    05/4499
    Wilson Online Reference
    E32C
    Description
    An extensive view from within the shadow of a wide arch of the temple to villas and gardens in the sunlight beyond. A great white cloud can be seen in the sky. Two women and a child are in the foreground with other figures further off and a beggar by the wall on the left.
    Provenance
    Acquired by 1802
    Signature/inscription
    Lettered below the image:
    [1] Upper left: R. Wilson del.
    [2] Upper right: M. Rooker sc.
    [3] Centre: TEMPLE of PEACE.
    Subject
    The Temple of Peace was the common name for the Roman forum built by the Emperor Vespasian. It was a favourite with artists of the time including Piranesi.
    Related Drawings
    D104 The Temple of Peace, Rome, The British Museum (1859,0709.112)
    Versions
    See 'Links' tab
    Related Works by Other Artists
    Francis Towne Roman Landscape, watercolour, 1795, Gorringe's Auctions, Lewes, 25 February 2015 (1173)
    Critical commentary
    This print is based on Wilson's drawing now in the British Museum (D104), where his adoption of an unconventional viewpoint beneath the wide coffered arch allowed him to create sharp contrasts between the foreground shadows and the sunlit gardens beyond. Twelve Original Views in Italy was published by John Boydell as a compilation of etchings by different printmakers, produced over a number of years, after Wilson's drawings or paintings. Michael 'Angelo' Rooker etched three prints for this series, the others being E42 In the Villa Adriana and E43 Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli. The other engravers involved were Joseph Farington, James Gandon, William Hodges and Edward Rooker.
    Previous Cat/Ref Nos
    PL003840
    Bibliography
    Edwards 1808, p. 88; Pilkington (1810 edn.); Binyon, p. 353 under 11
    More Information
    Bound in a nineteenth-century volume with Charles Hullmandel's lithographic 24 Views of Italy, 1818.
    E32C is one of the few extant impressions of this etching (along with E32) to lack Boydell's publication line of 1776. This may indicate that, together with other prints in the series Twelve Original Views in Italy, it was first commissioned by Wilson with a view to publication himself, and only later passed or sold to Boydell when Wilson was hard pressed for cash.
    Condition/Conservation
    Some discoloured spotting
    Updated by Compiler
    2025-04-29 00:00:00

    Work of Art

    Drawings

    • Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), Temple of Peace, Rome, The British Museum

    Versions

    • Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801)after Wilson, Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy), The British Museum
    • Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801)after Wilson, Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy), Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
    • Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801)after Wilson, Temple of Peace (from Twelve Original Views in Italy), National Museum Wales, Cardiff

    Biographies

    • Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801)

    Documents

    • Edward Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters who have resided or been born in England; with critical Remarks on their Productions
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