- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
- Date
- 1786
- Medium
- Pencil, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 333mm,
- image length 489mm
- Support
- laid paper
- Mount
- mounted by the artist on laid paper with a washline mount (one thin, one thick line, and presumably a further thin line, although the outer part of the mount is covered by a modern mount)
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower right
- “Francis Towne / delt 1786”
- in dark brown ink
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “No.9 / Bay of Naples / A View of the Tample of Venus / looking towards the / Island of Nisida, / Drawn on the Spot / by / Francis Towne / 1786.”
- in neat brown handwriting, the inscription visible through a square hole cut in the frame (which, however, obscures the first part of the inscription, comprising “No.9”)
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (EVT 252)
- Versions
- Roman Ruins, Baia
- Catalogue Number
- FT432
- Description Sources
- Christie’s records (image); Witt Library; Examination
Provenance
Commissioned by Thomas Snow of Cleve (1748–1832) and descended to his great-great-granddaughter Miss Audrey Wilmot Snow of Cleve (1891–1972). On 9 June 1950 this drawing was sold by the Polak Gallery to the Fine Art Society (no.5542) for £200 with FT428. There it was bought by Sir Wiliam Worsley, Bt (1890–1973), for £315 with FT428. On 20 March 1967 Worsley sold it to Agnew’s (no.7573) with FT137, FT736, and FT811b (no.0903), where it was bought on 20 November 1967 by another collector. It was offered for sale at Christie’s on 18 November 1980, lot 87. Subsequently it was acquired by Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw of New York, who gave it to the current owner, the Morgan Library, New York.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, New York, EVT 252
- Eugene V. Thaw, New York
- Clare E. Thaw, New York
- Andrew Clayton-Payne
- Christie's, London, London, 18 November 1980, lot 87
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 20 March 1967, no.7573
Acquired with FT137, FT736, FT811b - Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), London, GBP 315
Acquired with FT428 - The Fine Art Society, London, London, 9 June 1950, GBP 200, no.5542
Acquired with FT428 - Polak Gallery, London, 9 June 1950
- Audrey Wilmot Snow (1891 - 1972), Exwick, Exeter
- Thomas Snow (1748 - 1832), Exwick, Exeter
- Exhibition History
- Watercolours by Francis Towne, City Art Gallery, 1950
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, pp. 40, 143
- Sir William Worsley, Early English Water-Colours at Hovingham Hall: 1963, p. 12
Other entries in Studio Watercolours, 1783–1800
Francis Towne
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the Ruins of the Priory Church
Francis Towne
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
The Wrekin, on the Road between Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury
Francis Towne
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
A View going from the Head of Lake Como over Mount Splugen
Francis Towne
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
The Campagna near Rome looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Francis Towne
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
A View of Loreto with Part of the Adriatic Sea
Francis Towne
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
A View near the Arco Scuro Looking towards the Villa Medici
Francis Towne
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
An Evening View from Mount Palatine looking towards Mount Aventine
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
A View on the Banks of the Tiber near Monte Milvio
Francis Towne
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
A View of the Temple of Venus looking towards the Island of Nisida
Francis Towne
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Chateau de Glerolles, near Vevey on Lake Geneva
Francis Towne
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Abbey Valley Crucis, near Llangollen on the River Dee, North Wales
Francis Towne
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
A View on the Banks of the Dee above Llangollen
Francis Towne
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
A View of the Bay of Naples with the Island of Capri
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Comment
This is a version of a sketch Towne made in March 1781 (FT239). Another version was made in 1783 for John Downman (FT394).
This is a pure watercolour, with no pen ink at all—even the little boat is defined with tiny brush strokes. A surprisingly effective work, it looks like some of the green/yellow has been lost from the foliage, especially in the areas immediately surrounding the ruin, resulting in an excessively red-brown feel to the work. Towne has staged the composition using highly structured layers, each defined by colour, which lead from a warm foreground to a cool distance. At the front is the bare earth of foreground (red); then a layer of trees and shrubs (brown/yellow) and a more shaded area of shrubbery approaching the ruin (green/yellow), which includes the ruin itself; then the beach, the bay, and Vesuvius (blue/green). It may be an evening effect although the sky looks a little too bare to say for sure.