- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Hadrian's Villa
- Date
- 1781/05/22
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and black ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 162mm,
- image length 222mm
- Support
- wove paper
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “No.40 / May 22 1781 / Villa Adriano light from the left-hand side afternoon / Francis Towne”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT272
- Description Sources
- Examination; Christie's 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 (1860–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 (BP15). Judith Merivale sold it to Squire Gallery for £3 10s. on 22 January 1936 (Herbert Milling of Squire Gallery visited Judith Merivale in November 1933 and expressed an interest then in buying this drawing). Sir William Worsley, Bt (1890–1973) bought it from Squire in 1953 for £150, and his family offered it for sale unsuccessfully at Christie’s on 5 June 2003, lot 42, and again at Christie’s on 2 July 2013, where again it did not sell. In 2014 Guy Peppiatt was offering it for sale.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Private Collection
- Guy Peppiatt, London, 2014
- Christie's, London, London, 2 July 2013
Unsold - Christie's, London, London, 5 June 2003, lot 42
Unsold - Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), 1953, GBP 150
- Squire Gallery, London, 22 January 1936, GBP 3.10s
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP15
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP15
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Exhibition History
- Early English Water Colours, Leeds City Art Gallery, 8 October 1958 to 23 November 1958, no. 93
- unidentified exhibition, Oscar & Peter Johnson, 1963, no. 32
- Bibliography
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, pp. 95, 143
- Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, p. 58
- Sir William Worsley, Early English Water-Colours at Hovingham Hall: 1963, p. 13
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
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
This drawing is of the Sala dei Filosofi, part of the vast site of Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli.