drawing;
album
- Museum number
- Nn,2.16
- Description
-
A distant view of Tivoli, formerly part of an album; town in distance seen from below falls between trees in left and right foreground. 1781
Watercolour with pen and grey and brown ink outlines
- Production date
- 1781
- Dimensions
-
Height: 302 millimetres
-
Width: 444 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- From album NN,02.1-32
See Nn,1.1 for information about the Towne albums as a whole.
The composition of this watercolour and 'Tivoli with the Cascades' may reflect the influence of J.R Cozens, though how much Towne knew of his work is uncertain. Both watercolours have the bright violet and green tones which Towne used in the early summer of 1781.
The following label was written by Richard Stephens for the Towne exhibition in 2016:
Towne probably visited Tivoli at least twice, but the details are uncertain. Towne wrote the date 'April 26th 1781' on the mount of this watercolour before scratching it out. He probably saw Tivoli on his way back to Rome after an excursion to Castello Madamo. The paper on which this watercolour is mounted is watermarked with the year 1794. The dark colours, use of gum and neat watercolour and ink hatchings, and the subdued role given to his characteristic wiry pen outline, all point to a significant reworking long after 1781.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1934 BM, P&D Gallery, Exhibition of English Art, no.422
1974 Jun-Aug, Kenwood, 'British artists in Rome 1700-1800', no.141
1981 BM P&D, 'Francis Towne and John 'Warwick Smith', no cat.
2016 Jan-Aug, BM, 'Light, Time, Legacy: Francis Towne's watercolours of Rome' (no catalogue)
- Condition
- Laid down in original wash-lined mount.
- Acquisition date
- 1816
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- Nn,2.16
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 1972,U.725