drawing
- Museum number
- 2000,0325.12
- Description
-
Temple of Bacchus and the church of St Agnese, Campagna di Roma; landscape seen from the terrace of an old building to left, with view of the church and temple to the right, and Alban hills beyond. 1832
Watercolour over graphite sketch
- Production date
- 1832
- Dimensions
-
Height: 125 millimetres
-
Width: 333 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- This drawing was one of a group from a sketchbook the artist left or gave to Richard Redgrave and which records his travels around Italy. He had been brought up by the uncle of Redgrave, with whom he sketched at the British Museum and enrolled at the Royal Academy in 1826. Smith won the gold medal for a mythologcial composition three years later and in 1830 went to Rome to study. He lived in the Palazzo Poniatowski and struggled to make a living as a drawing master between travelling and studying in Venice and Naples.
The present work was made in the company of the Welsh artist Penry Williams who had settled in Rome in 1826. Smith wrote to Redgrave in 1833 that his sketches were 'more valuable to myself than I believe they will be to other persons". (For other works from the sketchbook, see Abbott and Holder Special list October 1999).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2001 May-Sep BM, P&D, 'Paper Assets' (no cat.)
- Acquisition date
- 2000
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 2000,0325.12
