The Olympeion at Athens
Louis-François Cassas (Azay-le-Ferron 1756 - Versailles 1827)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1790
Materials
Pen, watercolour and bodycolour on paper
Measurements
650 x 1010 mm
Place of origin
Athens
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 607888
Summary
Pen, watercolour and bodycolour on paper, The Olympeion at Athens by Louis-François Cassas (Azay-le-Ferron 1756 – Versailles 1827), 1790. A view of the Olympeion with the Acropolis on the hill in the distance. A group of figures in Greek national dress and a naval officer in the foreground. This is a late copy of the picture which was formerly in the collection of Lord Darnley and is now at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. There is a possibility that there may once have been a large version of the subject at Attingham. The evidence for this is the purchase price of £100 and the sentence in a letter of 8 May 1824 from William Hill to his brother Lord Berwick to the effect that in Woodburn's opinion the Rubens is better than Lord Darnleys. There is also another version at the Musée de Tours, France.
Provenance
Attingham collection; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947)
Credit line
Attingham Park, The Berwick Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
signed with initials beneath frame.
Makers and roles
Louis-François Cassas (Azay-le-Ferron 1756 - Versailles 1827), artist