This picture was mentioned in a letter from Ozias Humphry to James White, dated 9 November 1808:

In my last letter I gave you to understand that I had not seen Mr Towne; but going casually to the British Institution in pall mall, I found the young gentleman laudably employ’d in making a copy, half the Size of the well known capital picture of Claude Loraine in the possession of the Earl of Egremont wch you have often seen.¹

The Claude had been bought by the 6th Duke of Somerset (1662–1748), whose great-grandson, George, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751–1837), owned it in 1808 (figure 1, measuring 1435 x 2515 mm), when it was part of an exhibition of Old Master paintings organised by the British Institution, one of whose objectives was to enable young students to observe great art close up. Towne’s name does not appear among the thirty-three students who applied for permission to study at the exhibition.² In his description of Towne as a “young gentleman laudably employ’d” Humphry is making fun at the discrepancy in age and experience between Towne and the student copyists, typically men in their early twenties. At this time, the Institution was particularly careful in granting permission to copy paintings in its rooms, and had debated the exclusion of J. Lewis for damaging a Claude loaned by Sir George Beaumont in 1807. Lewis’s canvas “was nearer the Claude than perhaps was prudent, a little colour spurted from my pencil when painting the sky”.³ The incident became a nationwide point of gossip. James White, in writing to Humphry on 1 November 1807, asked after Towne:

If you should see him, pray remember me to him & say, I shall expect soon to hear how “The Arts” go forward. – & particularly – whether Sr George Beaumont’s Claude, has recovered from the Injury, it sustained, in its Removal from his House to the Rooms in Pall:Mall.⁴