Capriccio of a Waterfall with the Tomb of Cecilia Metella
Giovanni Battista Busiri (Rome 1698 - 1757)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1739 - 1740
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1333 x 962 mm (52 1/2 x 37 7/8 in)
Order this imageCollection
Felbrigg, Norfolk
NT 1401158
Caption
William Windham (b.1717), of Felbrigg, was an avid collector of Busiri. Whilst on his Grand Tour, in Rome, he acquired 6 oils and 26 tempera pictures by the artist, all of which are still at Felbrigg. He almost certainly commissioned them directly from the artist in 1739/40. The painted scenes would have served to remind Windham of the monumental sites he had seen on his travels. Busiri preferred to work in tempera, rather than oil. His work closely resembles Jan Frans van Bloemen, but he was also influenced by Gaspar Dughet. As a highly-skilled draughtsman, his work was particularly suited to engraving.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Capriccio of a Waterfall with the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, by Giovanni Battista Busiri (Rome 1698 -1757), 1739/40. A great waterfall descends into ravine with figures in the foreground. Upper right is Tomb of Cecilia Metella. Fragment of an aquaduct in foreground. Possibly the cascade at Terni.
Provenance
Part of the Windham Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1969 by Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer (1906-1969)
Makers and roles
Giovanni Battista Busiri (Rome 1698 - 1757)
References
Vici 1966 Andrea Busiri Vici, G. B. Busiri, 1966, p. 51