The Villa of Maecenas and the Falls of the Cascatelle, Tivoli
EXHIBITOR:
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
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CONTACT EXHIBITORJohn `Warwick' Smith (1749-1831)
The Villa of Maecenas and the Falls of the Cascatelle, Tivoli
1786
Watercolour over pencil
19 1/4 x 28 1/8 in. • 490 x 713 mm
Signed lower left: J Smith/1786
$12,500
Further Information
John `Warwick' Smith spent five years in Italy, from 1776 until 1781 at the expense of his patron the 2nd Earl of Warwick. While there, he sketched with Thomas Jones and returned to England via Switzerland with Francis Towne.
Tivoli, dramatically situated in the Sabine Hills east of Rome, was one of the most popular sketching areas for a generation of British watercolour artists in the late eighteenth century. It was a favoured country resort during Imperial Roman times and is dotted with villas and temples. This is a view of the town from the north taken from the hillside below the Santuario Maria SS. di Quintiliolo with the Villa of Maecenas, now more correctly called the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor, on the hill. Below the Falls of the Cascatelle tumble into the Aniene river with the Alban Hills in the distance. A view of the same subject by Smith, but from a different angle, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Tivoli, dramatically situated in the Sabine Hills east of Rome, was one of the most popular sketching areas for a generation of British watercolour artists in the late eighteenth century. It was a favoured country resort during Imperial Roman times and is dotted with villas and temples. This is a view of the town from the north taken from the hillside below the Santuario Maria SS. di Quintiliolo with the Villa of Maecenas, now more correctly called the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor, on the hill. Below the Falls of the Cascatelle tumble into the Aniene river with the Alban Hills in the distance. A view of the same subject by Smith, but from a different angle, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
