Personifications of Music and Painting
Andrea Casali (Rome 1705 - Rome 1784)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1760 - circa 1765
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
2311 x 2464 mm (91 x 97 in)
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 453808
Caption
Seated on a cloud and playing the harp is a female figure in white with gold drapery, representing the personification of Music. Above her and to the right is another female figure who is the personification of Painting. She holds an oval mirror in her left hand and points to it with her right, alluding to painting’s ability to reflect nature. This is one of five ceiling paintings at Dyrham Park by Andrea Casali. They were all painted for Alderman William Beckford (1709–1770), for his house, Fonthill Splendens, in Wiltshire. They were sold from Fonthill in 1801 and later installed in the ceiling of the Theatre Royal in Bath. Colonel George William Blathwayt (1797–1871) bought them for Dyrham Park in 1845.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Personifications of Music and Painting, by Andrea Casali (Rome 1705 - Rome 1784), early 1760s. Two female figures are seated on clouds. The figure to the left is dressed in white with a blue sash, draped in gold, and wears a crown on her head. She plays the harp and is identified as Music. Above her and to the right, is a second female figure dressed in a gold tunic over a white dress, draped in pale pink, and with a blue-grey ribbon in her hair. She holds a mirror, ruler and pair of dividers, and is identified as Painting.
Provenance
Painted for Alderman William Beckford (1709-1770) for Fonthill Splendens, Wiltshire; Fonthill sale, 1801; ? bought by Paul Methuen of Corsham and presented by him in 1802 to the City of Bath, or ? bought by William Evill on behalf of Dimond, joint proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Bath; built into the ceiling of the Theatre Royal, Bath; purchased by Colonel Blathwayt for Dyrham Park in 1845; thence by descent; Indigenous collection purchased by Ministry of Works in 1956 and given to Dyrham Park in 1961
Credit line
Dyrham Park, The Blathwayt Collection (acquired by the Ministry of Works via the National Land Fund in 1956, and transferred to the National Trust)
Makers and roles
Andrea Casali (Rome 1705 - Rome 1784), artist
References
Croft-Murray 1962-1970: Edward Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting in England, 1537 - 1837 (2 vols), 1962-1970, vol.II, p.182