- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) Michele Marieschi (1710-1743)
- Title
-
- A Lagoon Capriccio
- Date
- 1799 - 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and scratching out on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 30.5 × 43.2 cm, 12 × 17 in
- Subject Terms
- Coasts and Shipping; Imaginary Scene
-
- Collection
-
- Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
- (1953P218)
- Catalogue Number
- TG0904
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 300 as 'Lagoon Capriccio'; '1798–9'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and April 2024
Provenance
Possibly bought by Peter Bluett (1767–1843) of Holcombe Court, Devon; then by descent to Peter Frederick Bluett (1806–84); Holcombe Court bought by the Revd William Rayer (1786–1866), 1858; his collection by descent to Revd George Morganig William Thomas Jenkins (1879–1952); acquired by Gooden & Fox Ltd., 1936; Norman Dakeyne Newall (1888–1952); Spink & Son Ltd, London; James Leslie Wright (1862–1954); presented to the Museum, 1953
Exhibition History
London, 1949, no.181 as ' Italian Scene, after Francesco Guardi’; Midland Federation, 1958, no.14
Bibliography
Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.67; Rose, 1980, p.57; Morris, 1986, p.18
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
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About this Work
This watercolour of a Venetian lagoon with imaginary buildings, in a format known as a capriccio, is based on a work attributed to the eighteenth-century view painter Michele Marieschi (1710–43) (see the source image above). Girtin’s versions after other eighteenth-century Italian artists, such as Marco Ricci (1676–1730) and Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78), were all made after prints (for example, see source image TG0887), but no engraving of this subject has been traced, and it must be assumed that, unusually for Girtin, he worked from an original oil painting. The presumed source is now thought to actually be by a follower of Marieschi rather than the artist himself, but, aside from the fact that Girtin cut the composition slightly to the left and right, his watercolour otherwise follows the subject very closely, reproducing the figures exactly, and there is a strong likelihood that it was Girtin’s source. It is not known where Girtin came across the painting, however. Neither of the early patrons whose collections provided Girtin with numerous models to copy, Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) and John Henderson (1764–1843), are known to have owned paintings by Marieschi, and the opportunities for an artist to copy a painting by a foreign master in the days before the foundation of public galleries were limited. Young landscape artists were therefore dependent on the connections they were able to forge with collectors, and we have evidence that Girtin did just that with the playwright Thomas Holcroft (1745–1809), who accompanied the artist on his sketching tours around Paris in 1802. Holcroft recorded in his diary, early in 1799, that ‘Girton, a landscape designer, looked at my pictures, and praised them highly. After the Wilsons, his attention was most deeply attracted by the landscape by Artois’ (Holcroft, 1816, vol.3, p.169). Nothing by Marieschi has been traced to Holcroft’s collection, though the date of the visit in 1799 may well accord with the production of this watercolour.
Although not made after a print, A Lagoon Capriccio has a number of stylistic links with a group of six watercolours of around 1800–1801 that Girtin made after etchings from the work of Ricci, including Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk (TG0881), which includes a similar motif of a workman raising a ladder, and all of the works appear to employ the same laid paper. The first known owner of the Marieschi copy was either Peter Bluett (1767–1863) of Holcombe Court, Devon, or a descendant of the Revd William Rayer (1786–1866), who moved into the property in 1858, and two of the Ricci-inspired drawings (TG0880 and TG0883) also came from the collection at Holcombe. However, unlike the slightly earlier copies after prints by Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721–1820), such as Rome: The Temple of Saturn (TG0893), which were produced on commission, the later group that includes the works from Holcombe was made for sale on the open market. This is an important distinction, because whilst the earlier copies were dictated by the requirements of the patron, watercolours such as this constituted a new kind of commodity aimed at collectors of Girtin’s work. Thus, at a time when the Continent was cut off for travellers from Britain by war, an image of ancient or exotic scenery showcased Girtin’s skills as an artist who was able to rise to the challenge of depicting the foreign without leaving his native city.
1799 - 1800
The Temple of Clitumnus
TG0887
1800 - 1801
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
TG0881
1800 - 1801
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
TG0880
1800 - 1801
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
TG0883
1796 - 1797
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, Called the Temple of Concord
TG0893