- 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 223mm,
- image length 166mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “N.42 / May 22. 1781. Villa / Adriana. Afternoon / Light from the left-hand. / Francis Towne”
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Catalogue Number
- FT274
- Description Sources
- Examination; Christie's records (image)
Provenance
Untraced until identified in the collection of Selwyn Image (1849–1930) by Oppé in 1920. It was sold at Christie’s on 20 November 1953, lot 29 (a pair with 273), for £124 5s. for the pair to Agnew’s (no.7285 or 7286), who bought it on behalf of Sir William Worsley, Bt (1890–1973), to whom they sold it for 190 guineas, according to Christie’s in 2013. Worsley’s descendants offered it for sale unsuccessfully at Christie’s on 5 June 2003, lot 44, and eventually sold it at Christie’s on 2 July 2013, lot 37, for £8,125.
- Associated People & Organisations
- Private Collection, 2 July 2013, GBP 8125
- Christie's, London, London, 2 July 2013, lot 37
- Christie's, London, London, 5 June 2003, lot 44
Unsold - Sir William Worsley (1890 - 1973), 20 November 1953, GBP 190 guineas
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 20 November 1953, GBP 124.5s, no.7285 or 7286
- Christie's, London, London, 20 November 1953, lot 29
Listed as a pair with FT273 - Selwyn Image (1849 - 1930), 1920
- 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
- Paul Oppé, 'Francis Towne, Landscape Painter', The Walpole Society: London, 1920, p. 111
- 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
Francis Towne
Thirteen Miles on the Road from Rome to Tivoli
Thirteen Miles on the Road from Rome to Tivoli
Francis Towne
A View of Rocca di Papa with Part of the Convent
A View of Rocca di Papa with Part of the Convent
Francis Towne
A View of the Spot where Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
A View of the Spot where Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
Francis Towne
A View of the Spot from which Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
A View of the Spot from which Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
Francis Towne
Monte Porzio Catone from the Park of the Villa Mondragone at Frascati
Monte Porzio Catone from the Park of the Villa Mondragone at Frascati
Francis Towne
Blasted Pine Tree in the Villa Mondragone, 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
Towne has chosen a subject—a Roman ruin subsequently built on—made famous by Richard Wilson. Towne himself used an engraving after Wilson’s painting as a teaching aid (FT851).