After inheriting a fortune from his banker father in 1741, Joseph Henry made two trips to Italy to study and collect art. His apparent youth in this caricature suggests that Ghezzi drew it during the Irishman’s first trip of 1744-45, but it could date to his second visit of 1750-51. While still a young man Henry became a serious scholar determined to become a recognized connoisseur. Ghezzi shows him earnestly consulting a guidebook titled Roma Antiqua while standing among broken columns, with a truncated obelisk and other ruins in the distance. An inscription in the artist’s hand at the bottom of the sheet archly describes the subject as: "huomo erudito nelle Antichità e in Letteratura" (a man very learned in the antique and literature). The drawing displays Ghezzi’s distinct draftsmanship, characterized by parallel pen strokes, with contours closed only around the face.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Joseph Henry of Straffan, Co. Kildare
Artist:Pier Leone Ghezzi (Italian, Comunanza near Ascoli Piceno 1674–1755 Rome)
Date:1744–51
Medium:Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions:12 5/16 x 8 3/8in. (31.2 x 21.3cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1973
Object Number:1973.67
Inscription: Inscribed in pen and brown ink in the artist's hand at the lower border, Sr. Gioseppe Henrij Inglese huomo assai erudito nelle Antichità e in Letteratura huomo assai... ; in another hand at lower border on the old mount, Cavaliere Inglese dilettante delle Antichità; numbered in pen and brown ink in upper right corner of the old mount, 52.
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington (British); Robert M. Light
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings Recently Acquired, 1972–75," October 1, 1975–January 4, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists in Rome in the 18th Century: Drawings and Prints," February 28–May 7, 1978.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," July 21–October 5, 1997.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century," February 27, 2000–May 21, 2000.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century," June 17, 2000–September 17, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine," September 13, 2011–March 4, 2012.
Jacob Bean European Drawings Recently Acquired, 1972–1975. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1975, fig. no. 23.
Jacob Bean Artists in Rome in the 18th Century: Drawings and Prints Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (February 7 - May 7, 1978). New York, 1978.
Ann Percy, Ulrich W. Hiesinger A Scholar Collects: Selections from the Anthony Morris Clark Bequest. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1980, p. 24-25.
James Byam Shaw The Italian Drawings of the Frits Lugt Collection. vol. 1, Paris, 1983, I, p. 187, ill.
Richard T. Godfrey , et al. English Caricature, 1620 to the Present. Ex. cat., Yale Center for British Art, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Canada, Victoria and Albert Museum. Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, Victoria and Albert Museum, New Haven, 1984, cat. no. 8, fig. no. pl. 5, p. 31, ill.
Anthony M. Clark Pompeo Batoni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works with an Introductory Text. Edgar Peters Bowron, New York, 1985, p. 250, under no. 147.
Jacob Bean, William M. Griswold 18th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, cat. no. 71, fig. no. 71, p. 87, ill.
Edgar Peters Bowron, Edgar Peters Bowron, Joseph J. Rishel, Philadelphia Museum of Art Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2000, (entry by Anna Lo Bianco), cat. no. 354, pp. 510-11, ill.
Nadine Orenstein, Constance C. McPhee Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine Exh. cat.: September 13, 2011 - March 4, 2012. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven and London, 2011, cat. no. 113, p. 145 (entry by Constance McPhee), ill.
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