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Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Maker

(artist)
1752-1797

Title

Date of Production

(March) 1778

Medium

graphite and watercolour on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 36.4 cm
Width: 27.4 cm

Accession Number

D.2007.DS.13

Mode of Acquisition

Dorothy Scharf, bequest, 2007 (March)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Cozens first visited Italy in 1776 under the patronage of the collector Richard Payne Knight. This majestic view of a celebrated Roman ruin – the tomb of Cecilia Metella, which stood at the top of the Appian Way – was one of a large group of watercolours he produced for Knight from sketches made on the spot. Knight was also one of several British collectors of the work of the German Romantic artist Jakob Philipp Hackert, whom Cozens later met on his second trip to Italy in 1782.

Provenance

William Beckford (1760-1844); his sale, Christies (London), 10 April 1805, lot 6 as 'Capo di Bove'; purchased there by Henry Edrige (1768-1821) for 5 guineas; Frank W. Keen; his sale, Christie's (London), 10 November 1933, lot 111 as 'Capo di Bove'; purchased there by Walker Galleries (London) for 38 guineas; purchased there by Sir Thomas Barlow (1845-1945); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 28 June 1944, lot 21 as 'Capo di Bove'; purchased there by Fine Art Society (London) for £145; Sir William Worsley; anonymous sale, Sotheby's (London), 10 November 1994, lot 65; Mrs Josephine Scharf, London (1914-2004); by descent to Miss Dorothy Scharf, London (1942-2004); Scharf Bequest 2007

Exhibition History

A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014

122nd Annual Exhibition of English Watercolours and Drawings, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 27/02/1995-24/03/1995

Autumn Exhibition, Albany Gallery, London, 24/10/1967-10/11/1967

Literature

Bell, C.F. and Thomas Girtin, The 23rd volume of the Walpole Society 1934-1935. The drawings and sketches of John Robert Cozens, Oxford: University Press, 1935
no. 351

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso: across upper edge, graphite, located and dated: "Tomb of Cicilius Metella 7 miles from Rome. March 1778."; lower right corner, graphite: "6"; lower right corner, graphite, circled: "1727".

Collector's mark: none.

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