- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Walls (?)of Rome
- Date
- ca. 1780 - 1781
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and brown ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 153mm,
- image length 211mm
- Mount
- mounted by the artist
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
-
- (T08566)
- Catalogue Number
- FT228
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image)
Provenance
Untraced until sold anonymously at Foster’s on 27 July 1910, lot 151 (a group with FT228, FT257, FT283, FT284, FT296, FT310, FT318, FT319, FT325, FT326, FT327, FT329, FT330, FT339, FT340, FT361, FT793, and FT862), for 25s. to Paul Oppé (1878–1957; no.42), whose descendants sold it in 1996 with the rest of Oppé’s collection to the present owner, the Tate Gallery (T8566).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Tate, London, 1996, T8566
- Adolph Paul Oppé (1878 - 1957), London, 27 July 1910, GBP 25s, no.42
- Foster's auctioneers (1883 - 1940), 27 July 1910, lot 151
Sold in a group with FT228, FT257, FT283, FT284, FT296, FT310, FT318, FT319, FT325, FT326, FT327, FT329, FT330, FT339, FT340, FT361, FT793 and a drawing by an unidentified pupil
- Exhibition History
- Forty Drawings of Roman Scenes by British Artists (1715-1850) from Originals in the British Museum in the Esposizione internationale di Belle Arti, 1911, no. 48
- 76th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1949, no. 22
- Exhibition of Works from The Paul Oppe Collection, Royal Academy, 1958, no. 95
Other entries in Rome Series, October 1780–July 1781
Francis Towne
Two Miles from Rome going out at the Porta Pia
Two Miles from Rome going out at the Porta Pia
Francis Towne
Part of the Ancient Roman Wall between Porta Salara and Porta Pinciana
Part of the Ancient Roman Wall between Porta Salara and Porta Pinciana
Francis Towne
Two Miles from Rome, going out at Porta Salara
Two Miles from Rome, going out at Porta Salara
Francis Towne
Near the Arco Scuro, looking into the Villa Borghese
Near the Arco Scuro, looking into the Villa Borghese
Francis Towne
A Sepulchre by the Road between Rome and the Ponte Nomentana
A Sepulchre by the Road between Rome and the Ponte Nomentana
Francis Towne
The Old Wall of Rome at the back of the Villa Medici
The Old Wall of Rome at the back of the Villa Medici
Francis Towne
St Maria Nuova with the Temple of Venus and Rome
St Maria Nuova with the Temple of Venus and Rome
Francis Towne
The Temple of Vesta and the Temple of Fortuna Virilis
The Temple of Vesta and the Temple of Fortuna Virilis
Francis Towne
Going out from the Porta Pia, looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Going out from the Porta Pia, looking towards the Sabine Mountains
Footnotes
- 1 The Times, 15 March 1958.
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Comment
Roman walls with overhanging foliage were a popular subject for British artists and with Towne, who drew another example at FT176, but the title is traditional and not based on an inscription. With the long shadows and orange sky, Towne is suggesting an evening view. The washline mount is thin and weak, as are the figures, indicating that the drawing was finished and mounted late in Towne’s life.
This drawing comes from the group that Oppé bought in 1910 and catalogued as “English landscapes, various”.1