- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- The Sybil’s Temple at Tivoli
- The Sibyl's Temple at Tivoli from below
- Date
- 1781 - 1789
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and grey ink, watercolour with gum
- Dimensions
-
- image width 497mm,
- image length 385mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Inscription
-
- sheet, recto, lower right
- “Francis Towne / delt 1789 [“1789” over scratching out]”
- Inscription
-
- artist's mount, verso
- “Italy / No13. / The Sybils Temple at Tivoli / Francis Towne delt. / 1781”
- the year in dark brown ink
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (Nn,3.7)
- Catalogue Number
- FT256
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image)
Provenance
Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), by whom it was given in 1818 to the present owner, the British Museum (Nn,3.7).
- Associated People & Organisations
- British Museum, London, 1816, Nn,3.7
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
- Bibliography
- Thomas Ashby, Forty drawings of Roman scenes by British artists (1715-1850) from originals in the British Museum, British Museum: London, 1911, p. 14
- Laurence Binyon, Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists and Artists of Foreign Origin Working in Great Britain Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, Trustees of the British Museum: London, 1907, p. 202
- Adrian Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, Charles Skilton: London, 1962, pp. 105, 127
- Paul Oppé, 'Francis Towne, Landscape Painter', The Walpole Society: London, 1920, p. 112
- Timothy Wilcox, Francis Towne, Tate Publishing: London, 1997, p. 76
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
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Comment
The round temple standing on the edge of the Aniene falls was dedicated to the sibyl Albunea, and the smaller rectangular one to Tiburnus, the legendary founder of Tivoli. They were extremely popular subjects for artists in Towne’s time and very influential among architects.
This drawing shows signs of having been worked up after 1781, notably in the sky, the heavy shadow cast over the left foreground, and the addition of the date 1789.
Towne exhibited a view of the Sybil’s Temple at the 1793 Royal Academy exhibition (FT574).