Monday Morning Museum: Richard Wilson

Portrait of Richard Wilson, 1752 by Anton Raphael Mengs

Richard Wilson – Sunday 1 August 1714 Penegoes, Montgomeryshire, Wales to Wednesday 15 May 1782 Colomeandy, Denbighshire, Wales

Welsh Romantic Painter

Lake Nemi and Genzano From the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery, mid-1750s

“Wilson’s subject is the terrace of the Capuchin monastery at Genzano, with Lake Nemi below and Monte Circeo and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance to the west. On a rocky promontory at center right is the little hill town of Genzano with its two monuments, the church and bell tower of Santa Maria della Cima, and the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini. The buildings lie along the ridges and sloping wall of the volcanic crater, in the Alban Hills along the Via Appia, less than twenty miles southwest of Rome. Deep and very dark in color, Lake Nemi had been called by the ancient Romans the specchio di Diana (mirror of Diana), goddess of the hunt, who was thought to have been a denizen of the surrounding woods.” – Metropolitan Museum of Art

Last Monday’s Artist – Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse
Next Monday’s Artist – Frederic Edwin Church

“Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent