- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Near Rocca di Papa
- Date
- 1781
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and grey ink, grey and blue washes
- Dimensions
-
- image width 391mm,
- image length 254mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “No 47 / Near Rocca del Papa / in the wood of Chestnut Trees / Francis Towne / 1781”
- in neat brown ink, small indistinct remains of a pencil inscription below it, perhaps the original inscription
- Object Type
- Monochrome wash
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- FT278
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image)
Provenance
Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), on whose death it passed to Towne’s residuary legatee John Herman Merivale (1779–1844) and his successors. Merivale’s granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale (1853–1928) and Judith Ann Merivale (1853–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 (no BP number known). On 12 April 1946 Judith Merivale’s executors sold it to Agnew’s (no.4552), who sold it on 7 November 1946 to Sir John Heathcoat Amory, Bt (1894–1972). On 15 July 1963 Heathcoat Amory sold it back to Agnew’s (no.3447), where on 30 September 1963 it was purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), who gave it to the present owner, the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven (B1975.4.1412; gift to Yale, December 1975).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, December 1975, B1975.4.1412
- Mr Paul Mellon (1907 - 1999), 30 September 1963
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 15 July 1963, no.3447
- Sir John Heathcoat Amory (1894 - 1972), 7 November 1946
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 4 December 1946, no.4552
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, no BP number known
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, no BP number known
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- [?] 73rd Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1946, no. 66 as 'Near Rocca del Papa'
- [?] 74th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1947, no. 50 as 'Near Rocca del Papa'
- Loan Exhibition: English Watercolours and Drawings from Local Collections, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1949, no. 16
- Three Exeter Artists of the Eighteenth Century: Francis Hayman RA, Francis Towne, John White Abbott, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1951, no. 44
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, p. 144
Other entries in Italy Series, April to June 1781
Thirteen Miles on the Road from Rome to Tivoli
A View of Rocca di Papa with Part of the Convent
A View of the Spot where Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
A View of the Spot from which Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
Monte Porzio Catone from the Park of the Villa Mondragone at Frascati
Blasted Pine Tree in the Villa Mondragone, Frascati
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Comment
This study is compositionally similar to the “Foot Bridge” drawing (FT164), with its long overhanging tree trunk and foliage framing a cottage scene.