- Description
-
- Creator
- Francis Towne (1739 - 1816)
- Title(s)
-
- Castello Madamo
- Date
- 1781/04/22
- Medium
- Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour
- Dimensions
-
- image width 216mm,
- image length 267mm
- Inscription
-
- sheet, verso
- “Castello Madamo” in black ink over pencil, “April 22nd 1781 No1 Light from the right hand” in grey ink, and “Francis Towne” in brown ink
- Object Type
- Watercolour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- FT246
- Description Sources
- Examination; Museum records (image)
Provenance
Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744–1825), on whose death it passed to Towne’s residuary legatee John Herman Merivale (1779–1844) and his successors. Merivale’s granddaughters Maria Sophia Merivale (1853–1928) and Judith Ann Merivale (1860–1945), both of Oxford, inherited the drawing in May 1915 (BP4). Judith Merivale sold it to Emily Norrie (perhaps 1891–1973) of Pequot Avenue, New London, Connecticut, for £10 in August 1933. On 21 April 1971 it was sold at Parke Benet in New York, lot 182, for $350 to Agnew’s (no.0593), who sold it on 1 January 1973 to a collector. In 1984 it was given anonymously to the present owner, Rhode Island School of Design (84.203.10).
- Associated People & Organisations
- Rhode Island Museum of Art, School of Design, Providence, 1898, 84.203.10
- Thomas Agnew & Sons, New York, 21 April 1971, USD 350, no.0593
- Parke Benet Galleries, New York, 21 April 1971, lot 182
- Emily Norrie (1891 - 1973), August 1933, GBP 10
- Judith Ann Merivale (1860 - 1945), Oxford, May 1915, BP4
- Maria Sophia Merivale (1853 - 1928), Oxford, May 1915, BP4
- John Herman Merivale (1779 - 1844), 1825
- James White (1744 - 1825), Exeter, 1816
Other entries in Italy Series, April to June 1781
Thirteen Miles on the Road from Rome to Tivoli
A View of Rocca di Papa with Part of the Convent
A View of the Spot where Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
A View of the Spot from which Hannibal is said to have looked at Rome
Monte Porzio Catone from the Park of the Villa Mondragone at Frascati
Blasted Pine Tree in the Villa Mondragone, Frascati
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Comment
This is probably a morning view, with the sun coming over the hill at the far right, just above and to the right of the hill town, and hitting the big expanse of rock or low hill in the left foreground. Towne’s washes are very spare—a grey/brown, blue, and yellow.