- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Bay of Naples
- Naples and Capri
- Date
- 1786
- Medium
- Pencil, watercolour, mounted by the artist
- Dimensions
-
- image width 400mm,
- image length 610mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower right
- “F.Towne delt / 1786”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “Bay of Naples. A view standing on the hill of Pausilipo near the Castle of St. Elmo looking towards the Isle of Capraea. / Drawn on the Spot / by / Francis Towne / 1786”
- according to the Witt Library, this inscription is “according to the previous owner” (i.e. prior to Oppé)
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (T08195)
- Catalogue Number
- FT451
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image); Paul Oppé records
Provenance
Owned by publisher John Lane (1854–1925) before being acquired by Paul Oppé (1878–1957; no.1868) from Meatyard in 1927. Oppé’s descendants sold it in 1996 with the rest of Oppé’s collection to the current owner, the Tate Gallery (T08195).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Tate, London, 1996, T08195
- Adolph Paul Oppé (1878 - 1957), London, 1927, no.1868
- Meatyard, 1927
- John Lane (1854 - 1925)
- Exhibition History
- Catalogue of a collection of pictures, drawings, furniture and works of art of the Empire and Regency period : select examples of Romano-British art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1929, no. 25
- 76th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1949, no. 4
- Three Exeter Artists of the Eighteenth Century: Francis Hayman RA, Francis Towne, John White Abbott, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1951, no. 38
- Exhibition of Works from The Paul Oppe Collection, Royal Academy, 1958, no. 97
- Francis Towne, Tate Gallery; Leeds City Art Gallery, 24 June 1997 - 4 January 1998, no. 62
- Bibliography
- Paul Oppé, 'Francis Towne, Landscape Painter', The Walpole Society: London, 1920, p. 122 (as dated 1798)
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 146 (as dated 1798)
- Luke Herrmann, British Landscape Painting of the 18th Century, Faber: London, 1973, p. 122
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
Footnotes
- 1 Letter from John Lane, 16 October 1915, Paul Oppé archive; Oppé 1920, p.122 n.2.
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Comment
This is a version of Towne’s 1781 sketch of the Bay of Naples (FT240). Two other versions are known (FT414, FT558). Despite the discrepancy in date, this is surely the 1798 watercolour that John Lane described on 16 October 1915 as measuring 394 x 610 mm, about which Oppé expressed regret in his Walpole Society article that he had been unable to look at it.1