The Head of Lake Nemi (The Nemi Lake near Rome)

The Head of Lake Nemi (The Nemi Lake near Rome)
The Head of Lake Nemi (The Nemi Lake near Rome)
The Head of Lake Nemi (The Nemi Lake near Rome)
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany / The Bridgeman Art Library
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
The Head of Lake Nemi (The Nemi Lake near Rome)
Date
c.1752-57 (undated)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Metric: 63.2 x 77.1 cm
Imperial: 24 7/8 x 30 3/8 in.
Accession Number
HK-802
Wilson Online Reference
P101
Description
A view of the head of Lake Nemi, with the town of Nemi beyond on the right, mountains in the distance and three figures seen from behind on a hilltop in the foreground
Exhibited
[?] BI 1845 (102 - Landscape, lent Richard H. Solly); London, Leggatt 1952 (8, repr.)
Provenance
Richard Horsman Solly (1774?-1858), geologist, London 1844; [...] with Gooden & Fox, London 1952; with Agnew’s, London 1954; Count Alessandro Manassei di Collestatte; Lady Wichfield, Hampshire; Private Collection, England; Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd, London; acquired by the Hamburger Kunsthalle wiith funds from the Campe'sche Historische Kunststiftung, 1975.
Techniques and materials
According to W.G. Constable the canvas is said to be Italian
Labels
[1] Stretcher, inscribed in an old hand: No 2 | paesaggio medio Wilson
Subject
Lake Nemi, also called Speculum Dianae, Diana's Mirror, is a small circular volcanic lake 19 miles (30 km) south of Rome. It takes its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, that overlooks it from a height.
Related Drawings
D387/1 Lake Scene, Private Collection, England
Related Prints
E72/30 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Untitled (The Head of Lake Nemi), The British Museum and other impressions
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Critical commentary
As noted by W.G. Constable, the old label verso suggests that the picture was painted in Italy.
Bibliography
WGC, p. 207, pl. 92a (unnumbered version); Gazette des Beaux-Arts, March 1976 (79); Hamburger Kunsthalle, 'Erwerbungen für die Gemäldegalerie im Jahre 1976', Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 22, 1977, pp. 187-194; M. Sitt, Die deutschen, englischen, französischen, italienischen und spanischen Gemälde 1350-1800, 2007 (Die Sammlungen der Hamburger Kunsthalle, vol. 1, ed. Uwe M. Schneede & Martina Sitt), pp. 374-375.
Condition/Conservation
Dimensions framed: 82 x 93.5 x 9.5 cm
Updated by Compiler
2021-01-20 00:00:00