FRANCIS TOWNE | Frascati, near Rome

Bequeathed by the artist in 1816 to James White of Exeter (1744-1825);
John Herman Merivale (1779-1844),
by family descent to Judith Ann Merivale (1860–1945), of Oxford, by 1915,
by whom sold to Agnew’s, 28 January 1937 (£30),
with Agnew’s, London,
by whom sold to Professor John Malins (1915-1992), 24 June 1940,
by direct descent to the present owner

Possibly, London, Agnew’s, Sixty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour and Pencil Drawings, 1940, no. 133 (as Frascati 1781)  

A. Bury, Francis Towne - Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting, London 1962, p. 150;
T. Wilcox, Francis Towne, London 1997, p. 86;
R. Stephens, Francis Towne – Online Catalogue, no. FT287

The medium has remained very strong. The sheet has discoloured somewhat and there are areas of mottled foxmarks. The drawing is not laid down but adhered to the back-board at its extreme edges.
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In the eighteenth century, Frascati, which lies on a hill just to the south-east of Rome, was popular with grand tourists for its fine views. In his Italian Journey, for example, Goethe wrote: 'at every turn the artist comes upon the most lovely things.... you can see Rome in the distance, and the sea beyond it, the hills of Tivoli and so on.'¹ 

The present work is one of a number that Towne made at Frascati. Here he focuses on the majestic chestnut trees in the park, while the Villa Grazioli, the country residence of the Dukes of Bracciano until the nineteenth century, can be seen on the left. ^1. T. Wilcox, cit. op., 1997, p. 84