- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- The Ruins of La Bathia, near Martigny, Switzerland
- View taken near Martinach in Switzerland
- Date
- ca. 1789
- Medium
- Oil
- Dimensions
-
- image width 457mm,
- image length 330mm
- Object Type
- Oil painting
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT557
- Description Sources
- Exhibition catalogues; FT812, the etching by B. T. Pouncey
- Associated People & Organisations
- Untraced
- Exhibition History
- The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, Royal Academy of Arts, 1789, no. 123 as 'View taken near Martinach in Switzerland'
- Works of British artists placed in the Gallery of the British Institution, Pall-Mall for exhibition and Sale, British Institution, 1809, no. 252 as 'The Ruins of La Bathia, near Martigny, Switzerland, measuring 457 x 330 mm'
- Bibliography
- British Institution, British Institution catalogue: 1809
Other entries in Exhibited
Francis Towne
A large Landscape, with a Scene in Shakespeare’s Cymberline
A large Landscape, with a Scene in Shakespeare’s Cymberline
Francis Towne
The Wrekin in Shropshire going off of a storm
The Wrekin in Shropshire going off of a storm
Francis Towne
A View on the River Exe, taken near the Seat of Sir Francis Drake, Devonshire
A View on the River Exe, taken near the Seat of Sir Francis Drake, Devonshire
Francis Towne
Chateau de Blonay near Vevey, at the Head of Lake Geneva
Chateau de Blonay near Vevey, at the Head of Lake Geneva
Francis Towne
The Ruins of La Bathia, near Martigny, Switzerland
The Ruins of La Bathia, near Martigny, Switzerland
Francis Towne
A View in Neptune’s Grotto of the Sybil’s Temple at Tivoli
A View in Neptune’s Grotto of the Sybil’s Temple at Tivoli
Francis Towne
View of the Passage over Mount Splugen in the Alps
View of the Passage over Mount Splugen in the Alps
Francis Towne
View near the Chateau de Chillon at the Head of Lake Geneva
View near the Chateau de Chillon at the Head of Lake Geneva
Footnotes
Revisions & Feedback
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
Comment
Towne’s 1789 exhibit was etched by B. T. Pouncey in 1793 (FT812). Pouncey’s image shows that Towne’s source was a drawing by William Pars (fig.812a). The etching’s subject matter, and its dimensions, make it highly likely that the painting was shown again at the British Institution in 1809, shortly before such repeat showings were banned from its events. The 1789 exhibition catalogue was the first to print Towne’s new address of Savile House in Leicester Square, which he was to use until the exhibition of 1794. Towne’s address in the British Institution’s 1809 catalogue was 39 Queen Anne Street West.
Although neither 1789 exhibit was mentioned by name, the critic of the St. James’s Chronicle noticed Towne’s contributions in passing, commenting: “We should fatigue our Readers, if in this manner we were to remark on the productions of Freebairn, Hearne, Dominick, and J.Serres, Tresham, Ibbetson, Town, &c. &c.”1 This hardly constitutes praise, but indicates in a general way that Towne had a sufficient reputation in London at this time to be recognisable by surname alone, and suggests in what company Towne was associated in the public’s mind. Dominic Serres was a founder member of the Royal Academy, and Tresham became an associate member in 1791.