View of Ariccia, Italy

Jonathan Skelton British

Not on view

Jonathan Skelton played a pioneering role in the development of British landscape drawing as one of the first artists to depict "Grand Tour" subjects during a residence in Italy. This example of his work shows a site in the countryside near Rome. The artist had arrived in Italy by early 1758 and, a year later, died tragically at the age of twenty-four. Skelton worked in the eighteenth-century tradition of "tinted drawing," first sketching a subject in graphite, then strengthening the lines with pen-and-ink, and finally adding subtle monochromatic watercolor washes. His accomplished draftsmanship and methods, which included sketching out-of-doors, anticipate those of Paul Sandy, who is generally regarded as the father of British watercolor painting. Interestingly, Skelton was largely unknown to modern scholars until a cache of his drawings and letters came to light in 1909.

View of Ariccia, Italy, Jonathan Skelton (British, ca. 1735–1759 Rome), Pen and gray ink, brush and gray, brown, and ochre wash over graphite

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.