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 160,^EW 'GO O tfffl^Sti LONDON. 
 
 
 
 ETCHINGS, 
 
 FROM THE WORKS 
 
 yji ,ni*. OF 
 
 y 
 
 WITH SOME MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE, &c. 
 By THOMAS HASTINGS, Esq. 
 
 COLLECTOR OF HIS MAJESTY'S CUSTOMS. 
 
 " NON DUCTDS OFFICIO SED AMOKE OPERIS." QOINTII.LIAN. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HURST, ROBINSON & CO. CHEAPSIDE, LONDON. 
 
 Johnson, Typ. Apollo Press, 1825. Brook Street, Holborn. 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/etchingsfromworkOOhast 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Independent of the difficulty of writing the Life of a 
 Man whose career was not marked with any very ex- 
 traordinary events, the inutility of the attempt is evi- 
 dent, since the principal features of Richard Wilson's 
 Life have already appeared before the Public* 
 
 To the admirers of Richard Wilson, as an Artist 
 of the English School of Painting; the following 
 remarks and anecdotes regarding him may be accept- 
 able, and perhaps deemed a fit accompaniment to the 
 Etchings, which have occupied most of my leisure time 
 during the last four years. 
 
 To the Artist, and to the Amateur well advanced 
 in the delightful School of Painting; the compositions 
 of Richard Wilson must, I humbly conceive, ever 
 prove a fund infinitely entertaining and highly instruc- 
 tive. There is scarcely a production of his to be found, 
 but what bears with it traits of much elegance of mind, 
 
 a See Michael Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers; Pilkington's Dictionary 
 of Painters ; and also a late Publication by Longman and Co. Paternoster Row. 
 
2.... INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 arising from the effects of an excellent classic educa- 
 tion. In his breadths he stands unrivalled. He never 
 sacrificed it for the sake of unnecessary detail or ena- 
 mel painting. Breadth, one of Wilson's great forts, 
 either of design, of light and shade, or of colouring, is 
 not easily understood: it is a power that can only be 
 shewn by superior genius, or strength of conception, 
 and cannot be felt, but through a long acquaintance 
 with Nature and Art. If, in the observance of this 
 great desideratum, Wilson was negligent and slovenly, 
 (and which indeed must be acknowledged was too often 
 the case,) some excuse may perhaps be offered by the 
 following fact, that a great many of his oil Sketches 
 were, during his life, either purchased or taken away as 
 mc/i, or put on one side for future attention and finish- 
 ing; but which, after death, came into the possession 
 of the Collector or Connoisseur, and then shewn as 
 "A Wilson!" 
 
 However faulty Wilson was in this respect, it may 
 be truly said, that He was a Mighty Master, and that 
 his productions had a thousand captivations : nay, I 
 will venture to say, (in unison with the opinion of one 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 3 
 
 of his great Admirers,) that where he committed his 
 thoughts on canvas, the observant might readily be led 
 into a belief, that if Nature was not exactly as he pour- 
 trayed her, it would be better if she were! that more 
 abruptness would make her more lovely, and that she 
 looked with more majesty when convulsed, than when 
 pacific. Wilson, notwithstanding, had the power to 
 paint as beautifully as any Artist who ever held a 
 palette. The truth of this might readily be acknow- 
 ledged by any one conversant in the art of painting, 
 could he obtain a sight of that invaluable production, 
 called "The Temple of Minerva Medica." This 
 painting is in the possession of Lady Ford, of Glou- 
 cester Place, and the subject forms one of the Etch- 
 ings of my present Work. a This induces me to 
 notice some particulars regarding the paintings of 
 R. Wilson, from which, through Lady Ford's kindness 
 and friendship, I have executed my present Etchings. 
 
 a Mr. Constable, of the Royal Academy, a gentleman deservedly high in the estima- 
 tion of the World, as a Landscape Painter, remarked to me on his seeing it, that he thought 
 " it went far beyond any thing he ever before saw of Wilson's works, and that in his 
 opinion, it possessed all the rigidity of the Italian School, with that great breadth so natural 
 to the Master." 
 
4. . . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 But before I proceed, I had better perhaps give a faint 
 outline of the Life of Wilson, for those who may not 
 possess the Biographical Sketches regarding him, which 
 have been so ably penned and published to the world. 
 
 Richard Wilson was the son of a respectable 
 Clergyman of the Church of England, who was Rector 
 of Peneges, in Montgomeryshire, in Wales. He was 
 born in August, 1714. At about fifteen years of age 
 he began the study of Portrait Painting, with a view of 
 following that branch of the art professionally. Possess- 
 ing naturally a warm imagination, and having acquired 
 a great taste for the classics, he was easily persuaded 
 to listen to the advice which was given him, to go 
 abroad and study landscape painting. By the writer of 
 two or three little accounts of R. Wilson, credit has 
 been given to Zucarelli, as having been the person who 
 advised him to relinquish Portrait for Landscape Paint- 
 ing. Possessed as I am of a fact relative to this im- 
 portant event in our great Artist's life, it is my duty to 
 say, that a very particular and worthy friend of mine, 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 
 
 and a gentleman of the highest respectability, (Mr. 
 
 R s) assured me, in a circumstancial detail of 
 
 a story regarding R. Wilson, that his friend Mr. Lock, 
 of Norbury Park, was the person to whom this honour 
 is due. He discovered in Wilson the sparks of early 
 genius for Landscape Painting, and which he rightly 
 judged could only be brought to maturity on classic 
 ground ! 
 
 Wilson soon left the shores of his native coun- 
 try to study, agreeably to the advice which had been 
 given to him, amid scenes more congenial to his youth- 
 ful and vigorous imagination, and to feed the ardent 
 fire of his classic store. a 
 
 His success was rapid, and his abilities soon began 
 to shine. Not long after his arrival in Italy, he be- 
 came intimately acquainted with Zucarelli. From him, 
 
 a It cannot readily be conceived, that it could ever have been deemed adviseable or 
 necessary, (poor as Wilson was in pecuniary, but rich in other resources, as we find was 
 the case from the various accounts already given to the world respecting him,) for him to 
 go abroad to study Portrait Painting. The natural conclusion must be otherwise ; and if 
 he had not discovered a strong feeling, and an extraordinary taste for Landscape Painting, 
 he need not have put himself to the unnecessary great expense of travelling to a country, 
 which I believe never could boast of talent so great as could be found in this, for Portrait 
 Painting. 
 
6. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Wilson, who then comparatively was young in the art of 
 Landscape Painting, derived very great advantage. His 
 powers soon rivalled those of his friend Zucarelli, to 
 whose immortal honour it is reported, and firmly be- 
 lieved, that he, in his attachment and enthusiastic ad- 
 miration of the rising abilities of his young friend and 
 student, Wilson, recommended his productions in pre- 
 ference to his own, and took every occasion of speaking 
 of them in the highest praise. a As his advances were 
 great in art, so his ambition kept pace, and uplifted him 
 honourably in the profession in which he was engaged. 
 After remaining abroad some time, he returned to his 
 native country with a numerous collection of sketches 
 of foreign scenery: his powers soon unfolded themselves, 
 and they stood confessed by an admiring Academy, in 
 his celebrated pictures of Celadon and Amelia, and 
 Niobe, which were exhibited at Somerset House. 
 
 " He became also intimately acquainted with Vernet, whose conduct towards Wilson 
 was remarkably handsome and liberal on many occasions. During this course of study 
 with Zucarelli, it was natural for Wilson to have imbibed somewhat at least, if not con- 
 siderably of his style. There are several of Wilson's paintings bearing with them a little of 
 Zucarelli's manner and handling, and a remarkable instance of this exists in a very fine pro- 
 duction of his, now in the possession of Mr. Anderdon, of Harley Street, Cavendish Square. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ... 7 
 
 Wilson possessed a great degree of modesty, and 
 perhaps this was the principal cause of his not reaping 
 the well-earned fruits of his abundant and prolific 
 pencil. Late in life he was appointed Librarian to the 
 Royal Academy, but when from infirmity he was under 
 the necessity of relinquishing his professional avocations, 
 the King of England granted him an annuity from his 
 Privy Purse, with which he retired into Wales, and in 
 May, 1782, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, amid 
 the scenes of his early youth, ended his peaceful days. 
 
 Remarks on the Utility of Engravings and Etchings. 
 
 Paintings and Drawings rarely gratify the eye but 
 of the possessor, while Engravings and Etchings, pro- 
 ducing a multiplicity of one and the same object, 
 become dispersed in most parts of the civilized World. 
 In the event of accident to Paintings, it often happens 
 that, through the powers of the Etching Needle, some 
 vestiges of what were once so great are preserved, and 
 
8. . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 the remembrance of some invaluable productions are 
 rescued from total oblivion. 
 
 Independent of the amusement which Engravings and 
 Etchings afford to the curious, the assistance they are 
 of to general information is wonderful: by them much 
 mental improvement may be obtained, together with 
 considerable rational entertainment, and continued 
 intellectual pleasure. I hardly ever saw a production, 
 possessing even a share of mediocrity, but it contained 
 a something, which rendered it interesting either from 
 the scene it represented, the intention of the Artist in 
 the original composition, &c. or skill displayed in the 
 transcription. 
 
 I am quite aware of many of the defects which 
 exist in my attempts from the Paintings of Richard 
 Wilson, and in my over anxiety I may have evinced 
 much timidity. They are, however, but finished 
 Etchings. 
 
 Etchings in general by untutored observers, may 
 readily be considered as rough and hasty productions; 
 although, as is the case with similar works of many of 
 the Old Masters, (particularly the Painters,) they 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 9 
 
 possess more Stirling beauties than are capable of being 
 conceived at first sight. 
 
 The slight Etching on the Title-page of this Work 
 was, (as is mentioned at the bottom of it,) traced from 
 an original sketch made by Sir George Beaumont, and 
 although there is nothing that can recommend it on the 
 score of merit as a drawing, yet as it bore a strong 
 stamp of character of the person whom it was intended 
 to represent, I have deemed it sufficiently interesting to 
 give it a place. The name, "Ric. Wilson," is a fac- 
 simile of his autograph, which I carefully traced from 
 a receipt, which is now in the possession of Mr. R. 
 Ford. Of the several paintings from which I have 
 been enabled to complete the present Etchings ; I have 
 only had the good fortune to obtain information respect- 
 ing a few. 
 
 Paul Sanby was with Richard Wilson at the time 
 the Sketch was made for the subject of 
 
 HOUNSLOW HEATH. 
 
10. . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 RUINS OF MECiENAS' VILLA, NEAR TIVOLI. 
 
 These remains stand on the banks of the River 
 Anio, which runs into the Tiber, twenty miles distant 
 from Rome. The building to the right of it, among the 
 Cypress trees, is a Convent of Jesuits. The temple 
 beneath that, was built in honour of the god Tussis. 
 The spring, which issues out of the rock on the left, is 
 the Fons Blandusa of Horace, whose Villa stood behind 
 the trees on the left, fronting Meceenas' Villa. The 
 drawing was taken on the spot by Mr. Wilson, in the 
 year 1754, in company with the Earls of Pembroke, 
 Thanet, and Essex, and Lord Viscount Bolingbroke; 
 who dined and spent the day together on the spot, under 
 a large tree. The dress of the two women dipping for 
 water, is the present dress of the country. 
 
 VALE OF NARNI. 
 
 This is a delightful painting, about two feet 
 eighteen inches high, by one foot sixteen inches broad, 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ... 11 
 
 and may with truth be considered one of the best little 
 paintings in Lady Ford's valuable collection. The scene 
 is about forty miles distant from Rome. 
 
 VIEW IN ITALY. 
 
 This View (on the River Arno) has frequently been 
 painted by R. Wilson. Indeed it is a sweet compo- 
 sition, and commands particular and continued attention. 
 There is a large splendid upright Painting, executed by 
 R. Wilson, from a Sketch which he made on the oppo- 
 site bank of the river. It was painted for the late 
 Thomas Caryll Worsley, Esq. of Piatt Hall, near 
 Manchester, in 1760. It is about five feet high, and 
 was originally painted on the panel, over the fire-place 
 in the drawing-room. Wilson received about forty- 
 pounds for it ; and now perhaps it is worth twenty times 
 that sum ! There is also a magnificent and truly superb 
 painting: of the same view in the possession of Sir John 
 Leicester, of Hill Street, Berkeley Square. This incom- 
 
 
 
12. . . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 parable production baffles all adequate description! — 
 To me it is quite affectingly fine ! — It is impossible for 
 any one susceptible of any feeling for the delightful Art 
 of Landscape Painting, to behold it ; and not to be im- 
 mediately sensible that some high merits are then shining 
 before him. — According to the scale of my humble ideas 
 of art, I should think it difficult to conceive that Land- 
 scape Painting could be carried to a higher degree of 
 excellence, or that any similar work could breathe a 
 more delicious sensibility. — It is about eight feet in 
 length, and proportionably high. 
 
 THE GYPSIES. 
 
 View rear Albano, Peasants of ditto, or Frescati. 
 
 The painting from which I made this Etching is a 
 good specimen of the Master. Lady Ford has one of 
 the same subject, somewhat smaller, and is about 
 thirteen inches in length. It differs a little in the treat- 
 ment. In it the large trunk of the tree near which 
 the figures are placed, is not carried to the very top, 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. . 13 
 
 (or out) of the Picture ; and the two women are differ- 
 ently composed. The nearest stands with her hack 
 to the observer, and on the stone on the left corner is 
 a memorandum, (if this stone was not meant to represent 
 a mile stone,) of "xv miles from Rome." 
 
 VIEW OF LA RICCIA, NEAR ROME. 
 
 This Painting is rather more than two feet in 
 length, and possesses an unusual share of finish from 
 Wilson's palette. It is held in the highest estimation, 
 and may be considered a most enviable production. The 
 delightful manner with which Wilson has conducted his 
 light from the right of the picture, through the com- 
 position, in the interesting representation of the Convent 
 and Monks is quite charming. 
 
 THE BAY OF BALE, FROM POSILIPPO. 
 
 The most distant mountain immediately opposite 
 the building on the left hand side of the subject, is Pro- 
 
 
 
14. . . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 cida, that just over the ruin, is Ischia, Between these 
 distant mountains, nearest Ischia, — the Elysian Fields 
 are situated — Micenum, — from whence the Roman fleets 
 sailed for the invasion of Britain, — is on the shores of 
 the Bay, below the Elysian Fields and the fore-ground 
 of the Painting. 
 
 The tomb of Agripina stands on the right of Mi- 
 cenum from Posilippo. Baise rests on the right of it, 
 and the remains of the Hot Baths of Nero a little below, 
 or nearer the town from whence the view was taken. 
 The ruin more immediately in front was Cicero's Villa, 
 and the building on the left is one of the houses of 
 Posilippo. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VENUS. 
 
 One of those bright and fortunate moments which 
 now and then shine on man, and lead him by lucky 
 guidance to a happy hit, fell on me when I first dis- 
 covered this excellent Painting of R. Wilson.— It was 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ... 15 
 
 dragged from its old hiding place, in a miserable shop in 
 the neighbourhood of the Seven Dials, near St. Giles's; 
 covered with dirt, so thick, that I could hardly decide 
 whether it was a Landscape or not. A very little trou- 
 ble soon undeceived me, and I was very happy to con- 
 clude for the purchase of it, and to take it away under 
 my arm, for better for worse. It is a beautiful Picture. 
 
 ITALIAN. 
 
 This Picture is a curious little gem from Wilson's 
 palette, and it seems as if the Artist painted it imme- 
 diately from Nature. It bears so much truth, and from 
 the size, I am inclined to think that it must have been 
 an out-door sketch. It is of the same dimensions as 
 the Etching. 
 
 
 
16. . . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 THE WHITE MONK. 
 
 This Picture, I apprehend, derived its appellation 
 from the circumstance of a monk in white, praying at 
 the foot of a cross. 
 
 This composition was often painted by Wilson. 
 Lady Ford has two of this subject; one is large, 
 measuring nearly five feet in length, and proportionably 
 high ; the other, from which I took my present Etching, 
 is much smaller, — being little more than two feet long, 
 and about eighteen inches broad. They are both re- 
 markable fine paintings*. 
 
 I had the gratification of seeing a painting of this 
 subject by R. Wilson, when it was in the possession of 
 Mr. Townly, of Doctor's Commons, about ten or twelve 
 years since. 
 
 It was certainly a most splendid work. — Mr. 
 Townly, (as I understood,) purchased it for three hun- 
 dred guineas, but he afterwards disposed of it to a 
 picture dealer, who sold it to Richard Entwisle, Esq. of 
 Rusholme, near Manchester. 
 

 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 17 
 
 VIEW ON THE THAMES. 
 
 This view is a little below Richmond, and seems to 
 have been a subject much in Wilson's estimation, or in 
 that of his friends, — for it was often handled. The 
 concentration of light, and its mellowed reflections in the 
 water, is quite charming. 
 
 THE MURDER. 
 
 The subject of this Etching is negligently painted, 
 but was only intended as a sketch for after considera- 
 tion. 
 
 This design he converted for his well-known ad- 
 mirable composition of " Meleager." — It evinces great 
 strength of conception for the wild horrors of a land 
 storm, and is truly appropriate to the fearful hunt of the 
 boar. — As the first thought of a composition so well 
 known in the world, it is curious, and bears much in- 
 terest when we compare it to its offspring, which was so 
 beautifully engraved by our immortal Woollett. 
 
 
 
18. . . . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 LAKE OF NEMI. 
 
 This is a sweet painting in the possession of Lady 
 Ford. 
 
 The Lake of Nemi has afforded many opportunities 
 for the display of Wilson's magnificent designs. 
 
 Mr. Blundell, (of Intz, about eight miles from 
 Liverpool,) has, with many others, one of Wilson's 
 largest and best paintings of this subject, in which he has 
 introduced the Nymph Calisto exposed to Diana. 
 
 It is called "Lake of Nemi," or "Speculum 
 Dianae." 
 
 RUIN NEAR VENICE. 36 
 
 This is a very small painting, and one of his very 
 early productions, most probably painted abroad.— It 
 possesses much force and truth of effect. The ray of 
 light passing the old Tower on the wall to the figures 
 on the path, is dashed in with that brilliancy of colour 
 so peculiar to Wilson's style. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. ... 19 
 
 PART OF MECiENAS' VILLA, AT T1VOLI. 
 
 This view has often occupied Wilson's attention. 
 The painting of this subject, in the possession of Lady 
 Ford, is finished with every necessary attention, and 
 the Master shines on the canvas. Mr. Constable of 
 the Royal Academy has one of the same view, as 
 well as another, (intended as its companion,) both ad- 
 mirably painted. 
 
 VIEW ON THE TIBER, 
 
 WITH ROME IN THE DISTANCE. 
 
 This is one of the grandest pictures in the whole of 
 Lady Ford's collection, and is painted with unusual 
 strength of colouring. The blaze produced by the effect 
 of the setting sun is most sublimely felt, and the rich 
 deep tones are executed with the force of Rembrandt. 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 Of the several paintings from which I have made 
 my present Etchings, the above are the only ones of 
 which I have been enabled to obtain any satisfactory 
 information, or have thought worth while to notice; 
 either on account of some very remarkable feature of 
 excellence displayed, or for the purpose of introducing 
 to notice, any other works of Richard Wilson of similar 
 subjects, or duplicates, which he frequently painted. 
 
 Perhaps Lady Ford's collection of the paintings of 
 Richard Wilson, is altogether one of the most splen- 
 did in the World, being about fifty in number. This 
 collection is interspersed with works of other Masters, 
 mostly of the Old School, — and in high preservation.— 
 Sir Richard Ford, and the late Rev. Mr. Booth, were 
 two of Wilson's great friends and patrons. On the death 
 of the latter, his sisters, Lady Ford, and Miss Booth, 
 became possessed of his collection of paintings, and on 
 the decease of Miss Booth, they were all centred in the 
 possession of one individual, the present Lady Ford of 
 Gloucester Place. 
 
StHllllt'i 
 
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