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Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

image © Guy Peppiatt Fine Art | All Rights Reserved

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Date

May 1781

Artist

Francis Towne (1739/40-1816)

Collection

Guy Peppiatt Fine Art

Description

Pen and brown ink and watercolour on laid paper. This drawing dates from Towne’s most important tour, to Italy in 1780-81. He arrived in Rome in October 1780 setting off for the Alps and home in August 1781. Towne spent about three weeks in Tivoli and the surrounding area in May. Tivoli had long held an attraction for British artists due to its combination of dramatic scenery and its link to the work of Claude and Dughet.

Towne worked assiduously while he was there, producing over forty drawings and watercolours. `No.1’ is dated 1st May and the present drawing, dated 22nd May and numbered 40 is one of the last. Nos. 40 to 42, all views of Hadrian’s Villa, and dated between 20th and 22nd May, were all at one time in the Worsley collection at Hovingham Hall. Adrian Bury (op. cit., p.95) describes them as catching `the haunting solitude and melancholy of this relic of the great and humane Emperor, Hadrian.’ Nine of Towne’s Tivoli views are now in the British Museum and no. 39 from the group, a wash drawing of Neptune’s Grotto, Tivoli, is in the Tate Gallery.

Hadrian’s Villa or Villa Adriana was constructed by the Emperor Hadrian in the early second century A.D. as a country retreat outside Rome. It fell into disrepair and in the 16th century, marble and statues from the Villa were used in the construction of the nearby Villa d’Este.

Image Licence

All Rights Reserved

Image Credit

image © Guy Peppiatt Fine Art

Location

Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy

Country

Tags

Gardens
Ruins
Stately Homes

Category

Buildings & Architecture

Glossary
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© 2024 Watercolour World | Technology by The Museum Platform

© 2024 Watercolour World | Technology by The Museum Platform