A Rocky Stream, Italy
Samuel Woodforde British
Formerly attributed to John Downman British, Welsh
Not on view
In addition to landscapes, Woodforde painted portraits and histories, contributing, for example, to Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and to Macklin's Bible. He worked in Italy from 1786 to 1791, based in Rome and spending time with his most important patron Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who built Stourhead. It was probably on an excursion into the Campagna that he came upon the scene depicted here. At the center of the sheet, a large rock stands beside a rushing stream, flanked by foliage and surmounted by a small suspension bridge. An Italianate tower rises in the distance. Crisp pen lines combine with ink wash and subtle touches of watercolor to articulate a range of textures in a drawing that is at once descriptive and expressive.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
