This text is reproduced from an article in Transactions No. 8.
ABBOT HALL SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 1867/79.
Provenance: ... Morton Morris & Co.; from whom bought in 1979 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream laid paper; 15 x 20 cm; 10 pages, the 8 bound pages numbered 2-9, plus 2 unnumbered loose pages; unidentified watermark incorporating a crown over shield; no binding.
This sketchbook, now only a tantalizing fragment, contains some of the most beautiful of all Romney's early drawings. It is a first cousin of the Kendal sketchbook, clearly in use at roughly the same time. Although the size of the page is much smaller, individual sheets are worked in the same way, many having several small studies on each side. The drawing style is also very similar, but many of the sketches are more expressive and more fully developed than most of those in the Kendal sketchbook, so that their qualities of delicacy and jewel-like precision achieve an even greater impact.
None of the subjects is immediately recognizable, although two possible identifications need to be weighed carefully. On page 5v, two studies of a partially draped, bare-breasted standing woman have been annotated in a later hand Mrs Yates. Their resemblance to the finished portrait Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771 is tenuous, and the controlled pencil drawing style here is unlike the draughtsmanship in other sketchbooks from the early 1770s (some of which include incontestable, very different-looking studies for Mrs Yates). It thus seems preferable to argue that any similarities are fortuitous. The same view could be taken with two sketches on page 7 of a dancing nymph with cymbals. These may be an early idea for Mirth, the subject which Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1770. Nevertheless, none of the women in the finished painting are playing the cymbals, and again it may be that this figure is for a totally different work. Overall, this homogenous, tightly-drawn group of drawings has the feel of belonging to an earlier phase of Romney's career. Even the putative date of 1769 which might accommodate the Mirth hypothesis feels uncomfortably late, and a tentative dating to earlier in the 1760s seems more plausible.
Three subjects dominate the contents of the sketchbook. The first involves a classical male warrior figure granting clemency or pardon to a female, sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling, whose attendants cluster behind her – a Continence of Scipio-type theme. The second is a classically draped woman, whole-length, seated under a tree with a putto-like child clinging to her knee. In a sketch on the last page of the book, the child has disappeared, which may argue that this is a portrait rather than a mythological subject. Thirdly there is a standing woman, again in classical drapes, shown either whole-length or to below the knees in profile to the left, resting against a plinth. Similar subjects to all these appear in the Kendal sketchbook. It is a great pity that so many of the pages of this book have disappeared, for knowledge of what it originally contained would have clarified the relationship between the two volumes, above all from a chronological point of view. As it is, the sketchbook remains a vital source for fleshing out Romney's early career.
AK
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 1867/79.
Provenance: ... Morton Morris & Co.; from whom bought in 1979 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream laid paper; 15 x 20 cm; 10 pages, the 8 bound pages numbered 2-9, plus 2 unnumbered loose pages; unidentified watermark incorporating a crown over shield; no binding.
This sketchbook, now only a tantalizing fragment, contains some of the most beautiful of all Romney's early drawings. It is a first cousin of the Kendal sketchbook, clearly in use at roughly the same time. Although the size of the page is much smaller, individual sheets are worked in the same way, many having several small studies on each side. The drawing style is also very similar, but many of the sketches are more expressive and more fully developed than most of those in the Kendal sketchbook, so that their qualities of delicacy and jewel-like precision achieve an even greater impact.
None of the subjects is immediately recognizable, although two possible identifications need to be weighed carefully. On page 5v, two studies of a partially draped, bare-breasted standing woman have been annotated in a later hand Mrs Yates. Their resemblance to the finished portrait Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771 is tenuous, and the controlled pencil drawing style here is unlike the draughtsmanship in other sketchbooks from the early 1770s (some of which include incontestable, very different-looking studies for Mrs Yates). It thus seems preferable to argue that any similarities are fortuitous. The same view could be taken with two sketches on page 7 of a dancing nymph with cymbals. These may be an early idea for Mirth, the subject which Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1770. Nevertheless, none of the women in the finished painting are playing the cymbals, and again it may be that this figure is for a totally different work. Overall, this homogenous, tightly-drawn group of drawings has the feel of belonging to an earlier phase of Romney's career. Even the putative date of 1769 which might accommodate the Mirth hypothesis feels uncomfortably late, and a tentative dating to earlier in the 1760s seems more plausible.
Three subjects dominate the contents of the sketchbook. The first involves a classical male warrior figure granting clemency or pardon to a female, sometimes standing, sometimes kneeling, whose attendants cluster behind her – a Continence of Scipio-type theme. The second is a classically draped woman, whole-length, seated under a tree with a putto-like child clinging to her knee. In a sketch on the last page of the book, the child has disappeared, which may argue that this is a portrait rather than a mythological subject. Thirdly there is a standing woman, again in classical drapes, shown either whole-length or to below the knees in profile to the left, resting against a plinth. Similar subjects to all these appear in the Kendal sketchbook. It is a great pity that so many of the pages of this book have disappeared, for knowledge of what it originally contained would have clarified the relationship between the two volumes, above all from a chronological point of view. As it is, the sketchbook remains a vital source for fleshing out Romney's early career.
AK
ABBOT HALL SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 2469/83.
Provenance: Alfred De Pass; by whom given to the Royal Institution of Cornwall 1923; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (21); bought by Alister Mathews; …Sir John Wedgwood Bt. (1907-1989); Christie’s 16 November 1982 (17); bought by the present owner.
Description: Graphite sketches (with the exception of three small ones in ink) and ink manuscript on cream laid paper; 16 x 19.5 cm; 32 pages, unnumbered, remain of the 69 present when the sketchbook was with the Royal Institution of Cornwall, although there is some evidence that pages had been removed even before the sketchbook was with them; watermark of Britannia in roundel; board and leather binding.
This is one of the ‘Truro Sketchbooks’ photographed by the Courtauld Institute in 1956 (see Appendix B). After its sale in 1966 a large number of the leaves were removed. What was left of the sketchbook was then sold at Christie’s in 1982. Photographs of the sketchbook as it was in 1956 remain in the Witt Library at the Courtauld and will be available online in 2018.
The front cover of this sketchbook is inscribed in Romney's hand March 1790. Inside, there are numerous studies for John Howard visiting a Prison, a subject which, encouraged by Hayley, the artist presumably tackled immediately upon hearing the news of Howard's death in the Crimea in January 1790. These drawings divide into two groups: a few individual studies of the gaoler, and initial trials for the whole composition, which are carried out fairly simply. A number of rapid, dense and tonal drawings that are typical of Romney’s treatment of the subject were amongst the sheets removed from the volume between 1966 and 1982. Also removed, but of great interest, were four drawings for Boadicea in her Chariot. There are three, much earlier, related drawings in British Museum Sketchbook No. 3, and the subject appears in Hayley’s Hints for Pictures notebook (National Art Library), but these remain rare examlpes of a subject for which no further sheets are known.
Shakespearean subjects in the sketchbook include a single study for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth and a drawing for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which shows the composition in a state very close to the completed painting of 1793. Romney is likely to have been planning the work for some time (see Courtauld Sketchbook No. 2). The question remains, however, whether all the drawings in the book are from the same time. These are subjects from Milton: chiefly Satan, Sin and Death from Paradise Lost, but including Noah and his Ark and the biographical one of Milton's wife begging forgiveness from the poet after previously abandoning him (a subject later painted by Fuseli). Although Romney is known to have been thinking of tackling a subject from Milton's life before 1790, his phase of concentrated work on Milton subjects began only in late 1791, climaxing in the summer of 1792. It may be the case, therefore, that after using the sketchbook for the John Howard subjects, Romney laid it aside for eighteen months. This supposition receives some confirmation from the appearance on the first three pages of the book of several drafts of a letter to Emma, Lady Hamilton, in one of which Romney mentions that "the Cassandra is in the Shakespear gallery and much admired - the King and the Royal Family saw it…the Maid of Orleans is to go there also", which must date from 1792 at the earliest.
TE
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 2469/83.
Provenance: Alfred De Pass; by whom given to the Royal Institution of Cornwall 1923; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (21); bought by Alister Mathews; …Sir John Wedgwood Bt. (1907-1989); Christie’s 16 November 1982 (17); bought by the present owner.
Description: Graphite sketches (with the exception of three small ones in ink) and ink manuscript on cream laid paper; 16 x 19.5 cm; 32 pages, unnumbered, remain of the 69 present when the sketchbook was with the Royal Institution of Cornwall, although there is some evidence that pages had been removed even before the sketchbook was with them; watermark of Britannia in roundel; board and leather binding.
This is one of the ‘Truro Sketchbooks’ photographed by the Courtauld Institute in 1956 (see Appendix B). After its sale in 1966 a large number of the leaves were removed. What was left of the sketchbook was then sold at Christie’s in 1982. Photographs of the sketchbook as it was in 1956 remain in the Witt Library at the Courtauld and will be available online in 2018.
The front cover of this sketchbook is inscribed in Romney's hand March 1790. Inside, there are numerous studies for John Howard visiting a Prison, a subject which, encouraged by Hayley, the artist presumably tackled immediately upon hearing the news of Howard's death in the Crimea in January 1790. These drawings divide into two groups: a few individual studies of the gaoler, and initial trials for the whole composition, which are carried out fairly simply. A number of rapid, dense and tonal drawings that are typical of Romney’s treatment of the subject were amongst the sheets removed from the volume between 1966 and 1982. Also removed, but of great interest, were four drawings for Boadicea in her Chariot. There are three, much earlier, related drawings in British Museum Sketchbook No. 3, and the subject appears in Hayley’s Hints for Pictures notebook (National Art Library), but these remain rare examlpes of a subject for which no further sheets are known.
Shakespearean subjects in the sketchbook include a single study for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth and a drawing for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which shows the composition in a state very close to the completed painting of 1793. Romney is likely to have been planning the work for some time (see Courtauld Sketchbook No. 2). The question remains, however, whether all the drawings in the book are from the same time. These are subjects from Milton: chiefly Satan, Sin and Death from Paradise Lost, but including Noah and his Ark and the biographical one of Milton's wife begging forgiveness from the poet after previously abandoning him (a subject later painted by Fuseli). Although Romney is known to have been thinking of tackling a subject from Milton's life before 1790, his phase of concentrated work on Milton subjects began only in late 1791, climaxing in the summer of 1792. It may be the case, therefore, that after using the sketchbook for the John Howard subjects, Romney laid it aside for eighteen months. This supposition receives some confirmation from the appearance on the first three pages of the book of several drafts of a letter to Emma, Lady Hamilton, in one of which Romney mentions that "the Cassandra is in the Shakespear gallery and much admired - the King and the Royal Family saw it…the Maid of Orleans is to go there also", which must date from 1792 at the earliest.
TE
ABBOT HALL SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 2523/83.
Provenance: ... T. Jones; bought from Mrs. P. Jones, London, in 1983 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 16 interleaved pages, unnumbered; probably some pages removed; board and leather binding.
A note written on the first page by the previous owner states that this sketchbook was one of a group of four, the remainder of which were broken up at the time that this one was 'rescued', re-bound, and given sheets of interleaving in 1965.
The front cover bears the inscription, in Romney's hand: August 1793/ Prid [sic] and Fanaticism /Howard. Infact only one drawing for John Howard remains in the sketchbook, a dense study of writhing prisoners. Pride and Fanaticism refers to the studies of a crowd instigated by a devilish crouching figure to harass a lone man, and there are some studies of figures whose character recalls slightly earlier and ongoing Milton projects. (There are also a few sketches of house plans.) In connection with Pride and Fanaticism, Hayley records a visit from Romney to Eartham lasting from the second half of August through into September 1793 and on his return to London Romney sent Hayley his well-known description of the strongly-marked passions on the people he saw on the outskirts of the city: ‘deep design, disappointed ambition, envy, hatred’ .... The two men had no doubt discussed the course of the French Revolution and Romney may have projected an allegorical treatment of contemporary political developments.
Many of the pages of the sketchbook are blank, and the chief impression left by it is one of desultoriness and creative indecision. However, it seems likely that many leaves have been removed, and that it originally had a different character.
AK
Location: Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal. Inventory No. 2523/83.
Provenance: ... T. Jones; bought from Mrs. P. Jones, London, in 1983 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 16 interleaved pages, unnumbered; probably some pages removed; board and leather binding.
A note written on the first page by the previous owner states that this sketchbook was one of a group of four, the remainder of which were broken up at the time that this one was 'rescued', re-bound, and given sheets of interleaving in 1965.
The front cover bears the inscription, in Romney's hand: August 1793/ Prid [sic] and Fanaticism /Howard. Infact only one drawing for John Howard remains in the sketchbook, a dense study of writhing prisoners. Pride and Fanaticism refers to the studies of a crowd instigated by a devilish crouching figure to harass a lone man, and there are some studies of figures whose character recalls slightly earlier and ongoing Milton projects. (There are also a few sketches of house plans.) In connection with Pride and Fanaticism, Hayley records a visit from Romney to Eartham lasting from the second half of August through into September 1793 and on his return to London Romney sent Hayley his well-known description of the strongly-marked passions on the people he saw on the outskirts of the city: ‘deep design, disappointed ambition, envy, hatred’ .... The two men had no doubt discussed the course of the French Revolution and Romney may have projected an allegorical treatment of contemporary political developments.
Many of the pages of the sketchbook are blank, and the chief impression left by it is one of desultoriness and creative indecision. However, it seems likely that many leaves have been removed, and that it originally had a different character.
AK
ATLANTA SKETCHBOOK
Location: High Museum of Art, Atlanta (Inv. No. 2004.14).
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot number); C. Leonard; Capt. J. Jaffé, Johannesburg; … S. Huston; …Christie’s 20 November 1979 (10); bought by Hildegard and Clyde Ryals; by whom given in 2004 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on laid paper; 16.5 x 21.5 cm; 42 leaves; leather and board binding with clasp.
Internal evidence suggests that this sketchbook was in use over a long period. Many of the identifiable sketches point to a date of 1786; these include a remarkable early idea in ink for Boys In a Boat Drifting Out to Sea and several trials for the figures of Prospero and Miranda in the Shipwreck from Act I of The Tempest; with Miranda in both the earlier ‘facing right’ and later ‘facing left’ poses (the latter suggesting that the book was still in use in 1787). An unusually panoramic idea for the meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three witches from Macbeth (the play Romney originally intended to illustrate for his first contribution to Boydell’s Shakespeare project) probably also dates from this year. But a detailed graphite study for the Initiation of a Rustic Nymph into the rites of Bacchus may be placed considerably earlier in the 1780s; and there is also what appears to be a sketch for the Girl with Her Dead Fawn, a subject which Romney began work on at Eartham in 1784. That the sketchbook may be associated with a visit to Eartham is also suggested by informal studies of girl servants carrying out domestic tasks, and, among the written material, a list of items to take to Eartham. A second list is of names of patrons, including Mrs Newbery (painted 1782-4); Mrs Ward (1781; a study for a full-length female portrait in the sketchbook is probably for this) Lord Carlisle (1780-81) and Sir Noah Thomas (1786).
AK
Location: High Museum of Art, Atlanta (Inv. No. 2004.14).
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot number); C. Leonard; Capt. J. Jaffé, Johannesburg; … S. Huston; …Christie’s 20 November 1979 (10); bought by Hildegard and Clyde Ryals; by whom given in 2004 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on laid paper; 16.5 x 21.5 cm; 42 leaves; leather and board binding with clasp.
Internal evidence suggests that this sketchbook was in use over a long period. Many of the identifiable sketches point to a date of 1786; these include a remarkable early idea in ink for Boys In a Boat Drifting Out to Sea and several trials for the figures of Prospero and Miranda in the Shipwreck from Act I of The Tempest; with Miranda in both the earlier ‘facing right’ and later ‘facing left’ poses (the latter suggesting that the book was still in use in 1787). An unusually panoramic idea for the meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three witches from Macbeth (the play Romney originally intended to illustrate for his first contribution to Boydell’s Shakespeare project) probably also dates from this year. But a detailed graphite study for the Initiation of a Rustic Nymph into the rites of Bacchus may be placed considerably earlier in the 1780s; and there is also what appears to be a sketch for the Girl with Her Dead Fawn, a subject which Romney began work on at Eartham in 1784. That the sketchbook may be associated with a visit to Eartham is also suggested by informal studies of girl servants carrying out domestic tasks, and, among the written material, a list of items to take to Eartham. A second list is of names of patrons, including Mrs Newbery (painted 1782-4); Mrs Ward (1781; a study for a full-length female portrait in the sketchbook is probably for this) Lord Carlisle (1780-81) and Sir Noah Thomas (1786).
AK
BARODA SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B A
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This is the most disparate of the four in terms of its subject matter. Studies for portraits are evenly mixed with those for historical works. Among the former are several studies for a seated man in a wig and robes, and others for a whole- length of a man with his daughter. It is conceivable that the latter could be in some way connected with The Warren Family (1769), with the figure of Mrs Warren temporarily excluded, since elsewhere in the volume there are studies of the architecture of the Colosseum and other details of the Warren portrait. A sequence of studies of a man and woman seated at a table with a lantern may also be for a portrait, though they have more of the character of a work of fancy. Drawings which are not for portraits include a group of a reclining woman with a maid attendant, a detailed head of King Lear, and a multi-figure bacchanal scene, which might be a variant idea for Mirth (1770). Notes on the endpapers include Mr <Air> Eyre in Surrey/ Street Strand; Boyle framemaker in Poultney /Street - Golden Square (a rare piece of evidence concerning Romney's early framemakers); Mr. Fryer in Aldermanburry/ No. fifteen, and Robt. Dunkarton at the Oyl Jarr Markitt Street/ Newport Market. The printmaker Robert Dunkarton exhibited the first print after a work by Romney, his Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, at the Society of Artists in April 1770.
AK
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B A
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This is the most disparate of the four in terms of its subject matter. Studies for portraits are evenly mixed with those for historical works. Among the former are several studies for a seated man in a wig and robes, and others for a whole- length of a man with his daughter. It is conceivable that the latter could be in some way connected with The Warren Family (1769), with the figure of Mrs Warren temporarily excluded, since elsewhere in the volume there are studies of the architecture of the Colosseum and other details of the Warren portrait. A sequence of studies of a man and woman seated at a table with a lantern may also be for a portrait, though they have more of the character of a work of fancy. Drawings which are not for portraits include a group of a reclining woman with a maid attendant, a detailed head of King Lear, and a multi-figure bacchanal scene, which might be a variant idea for Mirth (1770). Notes on the endpapers include Mr <Air> Eyre in Surrey/ Street Strand; Boyle framemaker in Poultney /Street - Golden Square (a rare piece of evidence concerning Romney's early framemakers); Mr. Fryer in Aldermanburry/ No. fifteen, and Robt. Dunkarton at the Oyl Jarr Markitt Street/ Newport Market. The printmaker Robert Dunkarton exhibited the first print after a work by Romney, his Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, at the Society of Artists in April 1770.
AK
BARODA SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B B
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This sketchbook, like Baroda No. 1, contains a mixture of studies for portraits and non-portraits. Few subjects of either type are recognizable, but among the former is a thumbnail sketch of an oval portrait annotated Ldy M which must refer to the portrait of Lady Melbourne of about 1771 (sold Christie’s 24 November 1998 (44)). There is also a cluster of studies for the portrait of a mother and child formerly known as The Duchess of Gordon and Son; similar studies appear in Courtauld No. 1. A group of studies for a pair of whole lengths, one male, one female, in robes, may relate to the portraits of Lord and Lady Arundell of Wardour. There are numerous studies for a half-length of a lady playing the banjo or guitar, and for a portrait of a couple reading. Simple head and shoulders studies of women pre-dominate, but there are also some of men, and one page is annotated by the artist Vandyke heads. There are also studies for the Mother and Child exhibited in 1771, for Hagar and the Angel, and for an unusual whole-length treatment of Venus and Cupid, with an uncharacteristically voluptuous Venus. In general, the mother and child theme dominates the character of the sketchbook. However, the volume is also notable for the most extended sequence of studies of an écorché anywhere in Romney's sketchbooks. Annotations to the endpapers include Mrs Racket, Lord Barlow [?] and Mr Ward will be here & Mrs Walkers.
AK
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B B
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This sketchbook, like Baroda No. 1, contains a mixture of studies for portraits and non-portraits. Few subjects of either type are recognizable, but among the former is a thumbnail sketch of an oval portrait annotated Ldy M which must refer to the portrait of Lady Melbourne of about 1771 (sold Christie’s 24 November 1998 (44)). There is also a cluster of studies for the portrait of a mother and child formerly known as The Duchess of Gordon and Son; similar studies appear in Courtauld No. 1. A group of studies for a pair of whole lengths, one male, one female, in robes, may relate to the portraits of Lord and Lady Arundell of Wardour. There are numerous studies for a half-length of a lady playing the banjo or guitar, and for a portrait of a couple reading. Simple head and shoulders studies of women pre-dominate, but there are also some of men, and one page is annotated by the artist Vandyke heads. There are also studies for the Mother and Child exhibited in 1771, for Hagar and the Angel, and for an unusual whole-length treatment of Venus and Cupid, with an uncharacteristically voluptuous Venus. In general, the mother and child theme dominates the character of the sketchbook. However, the volume is also notable for the most extended sequence of studies of an écorché anywhere in Romney's sketchbooks. Annotations to the endpapers include Mrs Racket, Lord Barlow [?] and Mr Ward will be here & Mrs Walkers.
AK
BARODA SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B C
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This is probably the latest in date of the four Baroda sketchbooks and is dominated by studies for Biblical subjects. Romney may have had the idea of reserving it for this use although typically, he was not consistent in carrying it through. One page contains a list of some of these subjects in the artist's hand, which has been unusually carefully written out: Susanah/ Moses before Farohs Daughter/ Hagar and the Angel/ Abraham offering his son Isack/ The Three Maries at the Tomb of Christ. Numerous studies occur for the Susannah, the Hagar and the Abraham and Isaac. Non-biblical drawings include a single, extremely unusual graphite sketch of a sharp featured woman in profile, probably drawn from the life, and there are also studies for Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771; these offer the best evidence for the dating of the sketchbook.
AK
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B C
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This is probably the latest in date of the four Baroda sketchbooks and is dominated by studies for Biblical subjects. Romney may have had the idea of reserving it for this use although typically, he was not consistent in carrying it through. One page contains a list of some of these subjects in the artist's hand, which has been unusually carefully written out: Susanah/ Moses before Farohs Daughter/ Hagar and the Angel/ Abraham offering his son Isack/ The Three Maries at the Tomb of Christ. Numerous studies occur for the Susannah, the Hagar and the Abraham and Isaac. Non-biblical drawings include a single, extremely unusual graphite sketch of a sharp featured woman in profile, probably drawn from the life, and there are also studies for Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771; these offer the best evidence for the dating of the sketchbook.
AK
BARODA SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B D
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This sketchbook undoubtedly dates from slightly earlier than the other three. The style of the drawings is tighter, with delicate cross-hatching, and is reminiscent of the contents of the Kendal sketchbook. Portrait studies predominate, although there are also écorché drawings (one page is inscribed Biceps/ Brachiaeus internus/ Gemellus); a study of three women seated in a clearing by a stream; a series depicting a man reaching for the hand of a woman observed by two companions, which Romney gradually develops into a multi-figure scene, and at one point, an extensively-worked sketch of a man holding up a swooning woman under a tree. Of the portrait studies, one cluster is clearly for the portrait of Thomas Rackett and another group may be for that of Mrs Scott Jackson. Although neither of these portraits is securely dated, it may be tentatively suggested that this sketchbook was in use by the summer of 1768. There is a sequence of studies for different female whole-lengths, nearly all brought to a considerable degree of finish; others are for portraits of a man seated at a table, a bonneted seated woman, two boys in a wood, sometimes shown with a kite, and two girls with a dog placed against a curved colonnade. Even though these remain unidentified, the sketchbook self-evidently provides crucial evidence for the development of Romney's portrait practice after the exhibition of The Leigh Family in the spring of 1768.
AK
Location: Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara, India. Inventory No. PG1 3B D
Provenance: ... Marion Spielmann; by whom bought from an unknown source about 1910-15 for the Maharajah of Baroda; transferred in 1921 to the present owner.
Description: Unavailable; the following notes are based on photographs kindly made available by Tim Wilcox.
Together with the other three Baroda sketchbooks, this volume appears to belong to the group of vellum-bound books measuring 20 x 16 cm that Romney turned to in the late 1760s as the Kendal Sketchbook began to be filled up. It is likely that they formed one lot, or part of one lot, at Miss Romney's sale in 1894 and remained together for the intervening period until they were acquired for the Baroda Museum.
This sketchbook undoubtedly dates from slightly earlier than the other three. The style of the drawings is tighter, with delicate cross-hatching, and is reminiscent of the contents of the Kendal sketchbook. Portrait studies predominate, although there are also écorché drawings (one page is inscribed Biceps/ Brachiaeus internus/ Gemellus); a study of three women seated in a clearing by a stream; a series depicting a man reaching for the hand of a woman observed by two companions, which Romney gradually develops into a multi-figure scene, and at one point, an extensively-worked sketch of a man holding up a swooning woman under a tree. Of the portrait studies, one cluster is clearly for the portrait of Thomas Rackett and another group may be for that of Mrs Scott Jackson. Although neither of these portraits is securely dated, it may be tentatively suggested that this sketchbook was in use by the summer of 1768. There is a sequence of studies for different female whole-lengths, nearly all brought to a considerable degree of finish; others are for portraits of a man seated at a table, a bonneted seated woman, two boys in a wood, sometimes shown with a kite, and two girls with a dog placed against a curved colonnade. Even though these remain unidentified, the sketchbook self-evidently provides crucial evidence for the development of Romney's portrait practice after the exhibition of The Leigh Family in the spring of 1768.
AK
BARROW SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-241.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (?lot 39); bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink on paper; 19.5 x 16 cm; 137 drawings on 71 leaves (recto and versos numbered 1-141 consecutively); vellum binding.
Written material inside the front cover includes a list of plaster casts which Romney had purchased, including an Antinous for 14 shillings, a child for 10 and a Janus for 16.
The majority of the drawings are executed in pen and brown ink. Studies for Mirth and Melancholy, both begun by 1769 and completed and exhibited in 1770, provide an anchor for dating this sketchbook. The studies for Melancholy include both seated (e.g. 2, 57, 58) and standing (e.g. 9, 19, 20, 94, 96) versions. No.9, with copious shading, is particularly detailed in giving an architectural setting for the image. In some of the studies, a figural relief can be discerned on the plinth Melancholy leans on. However, in drawings where the relief can be read (e.g. 94), it is a different relief from that which appears in the painting. Nonetheless, a number of drawings in the sketchbook do depict the subject that appears on the plinth in the painting. This has been identified as Ceyx and Alcyone. In some instances (93-94 and 95-96) Ceyx and Alcyone and Melancholy are studied on facing pages. Studies for Ceyx and Alcyone (e.g. 45, 52, 93, 95, 113), reverse the composition from that in the painting. A study of Melancholy's head (8) echoes precisely its depiction in the painting, including the part in the hair, the pointed drapery above the brow, the configuration of the lips and the facial expression.
Studies of Mirth also closely reflect that figure as it appears in the painting: supporting herself on her right foot, Mirth dances and plays a tambourine. Subsidiary figures which appear at the left in the painting, i.e, the triangle player and the figure with a harp, are studied on the same page as the face of Melancholy (8). Mirth drawings are nos. 1, 6, 8 (side figures), 17, 59, and 60.
Several drawings in the sketchbook depict a seated female nude, in left profile, head bent towards the right, in one instance against a landscape background (5). Another study, also including a landscape background, depicts a female nude, right profile, sitting more nearly upright than in the other two drawings, her head supported by the left arm bent at the elbow (125). Depictions of female nudes also occur in the Kendal sketchbook, a volume different in many ways from this sketchbook, yet overlapping in time and also in subject matter in certain instances.
For example, studies of Melancholy appear in both the present volume and the Kendal sketchbook (14). In addition, the latter has slight graphite sketches of a man in close embrace with a slumping woman, a subject similar to one treated in a large number of more detailed pen and ink drawings in the present sketchbook. In some of these the man, bareheaded, supports the slumping figure of the woman in a landscape setting (e.g. 66, 73). No. 79 reverses the composition and the man wears a helmet. In other drawings (e.g. 63, 69, and 77) the woman holds a dagger and is actively struggling with the man. One possible identification of the subject is Tarquin and Lucretia.
The present sketchbook, like the Kendal volume, may possibly contain studies for the Warren Family. This is conjectural since a child is absent in the drawings (30, 32, 36, 127, and 128), and the man wears a shoulder length wig. However, he wears a flowing robe and, in no. 32, a sash, part of the regalia of the Order of the Bath, which the sitter dons in the painting. No 32 is executed in a graphite technique similar to that employed in portrait studies in the Kendal sketchbook, although portions of the figures (including the man's sash) have been gone over in pen and ink. Thus, a technique characteristic of the Kendal sketchbook overlaps with the more lively pen and ink technique characteristic of this sketchbook.
Some of the composition studies in this volume (e.g. 10, 11, 12, 34, 46, 89) are yet to be identified. One entirely anomalous drawing, in graphite, presents two studies in profile of a deer with its head turned back (24). One can only guess at their purpose and meaning.
YRD
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-241.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (?lot 39); bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink on paper; 19.5 x 16 cm; 137 drawings on 71 leaves (recto and versos numbered 1-141 consecutively); vellum binding.
Written material inside the front cover includes a list of plaster casts which Romney had purchased, including an Antinous for 14 shillings, a child for 10 and a Janus for 16.
The majority of the drawings are executed in pen and brown ink. Studies for Mirth and Melancholy, both begun by 1769 and completed and exhibited in 1770, provide an anchor for dating this sketchbook. The studies for Melancholy include both seated (e.g. 2, 57, 58) and standing (e.g. 9, 19, 20, 94, 96) versions. No.9, with copious shading, is particularly detailed in giving an architectural setting for the image. In some of the studies, a figural relief can be discerned on the plinth Melancholy leans on. However, in drawings where the relief can be read (e.g. 94), it is a different relief from that which appears in the painting. Nonetheless, a number of drawings in the sketchbook do depict the subject that appears on the plinth in the painting. This has been identified as Ceyx and Alcyone. In some instances (93-94 and 95-96) Ceyx and Alcyone and Melancholy are studied on facing pages. Studies for Ceyx and Alcyone (e.g. 45, 52, 93, 95, 113), reverse the composition from that in the painting. A study of Melancholy's head (8) echoes precisely its depiction in the painting, including the part in the hair, the pointed drapery above the brow, the configuration of the lips and the facial expression.
Studies of Mirth also closely reflect that figure as it appears in the painting: supporting herself on her right foot, Mirth dances and plays a tambourine. Subsidiary figures which appear at the left in the painting, i.e, the triangle player and the figure with a harp, are studied on the same page as the face of Melancholy (8). Mirth drawings are nos. 1, 6, 8 (side figures), 17, 59, and 60.
Several drawings in the sketchbook depict a seated female nude, in left profile, head bent towards the right, in one instance against a landscape background (5). Another study, also including a landscape background, depicts a female nude, right profile, sitting more nearly upright than in the other two drawings, her head supported by the left arm bent at the elbow (125). Depictions of female nudes also occur in the Kendal sketchbook, a volume different in many ways from this sketchbook, yet overlapping in time and also in subject matter in certain instances.
For example, studies of Melancholy appear in both the present volume and the Kendal sketchbook (14). In addition, the latter has slight graphite sketches of a man in close embrace with a slumping woman, a subject similar to one treated in a large number of more detailed pen and ink drawings in the present sketchbook. In some of these the man, bareheaded, supports the slumping figure of the woman in a landscape setting (e.g. 66, 73). No. 79 reverses the composition and the man wears a helmet. In other drawings (e.g. 63, 69, and 77) the woman holds a dagger and is actively struggling with the man. One possible identification of the subject is Tarquin and Lucretia.
The present sketchbook, like the Kendal volume, may possibly contain studies for the Warren Family. This is conjectural since a child is absent in the drawings (30, 32, 36, 127, and 128), and the man wears a shoulder length wig. However, he wears a flowing robe and, in no. 32, a sash, part of the regalia of the Order of the Bath, which the sitter dons in the painting. No 32 is executed in a graphite technique similar to that employed in portrait studies in the Kendal sketchbook, although portions of the figures (including the man's sash) have been gone over in pen and ink. Thus, a technique characteristic of the Kendal sketchbook overlaps with the more lively pen and ink technique characteristic of this sketchbook.
Some of the composition studies in this volume (e.g. 10, 11, 12, 34, 46, 89) are yet to be identified. One entirely anomalous drawing, in graphite, presents two studies in profile of a deer with its head turned back (24). One can only guess at their purpose and meaning.
YRD
BARROW SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-242.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 35) bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney
Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on paper; 19 x 13 cm; drawings and notations on 163 numbered leaves (including back inside cover), of which 80 leaves are blank; vellum binding.
This sketchbook is expressive of Romney's self- tutoring while in Italy, which involved studying anatomy, copying from antique and Renaissance works, and drawing from life. The drawings themselves are varied in technique and style. Some are simple and schematic. Their summary manner suggests Romney's intent to record quickly and economically compositional arrangements and specific poses. A case in point is no. 7, most likely drawn from a classical relief, depicting a warrior being carried from the field by three companions; two horses' heads appear to the left. Forms are blocked out, with the addition of minimal patches of shading, to capture the basics of the composition. (These drawings should be compared to those similar in style in Louvre No.4 in any future determination of the authenticity of that sketchbook.)
Instead of an economical blocking out of an entire composition, Romney's aim is different in studies of the Laocoon group (66, 68, 70, 72, 74, and 76; see additional studies in Yale No.7, also an Italian sketchbook), The aim here is fidelity in copying specific details. These outline drawings, enhanced with careful hatching, capture with precision the specific elements selected, among them the agonized expression of Laocoon and one of his sons. These might have been done in an academic setting, which would have inspired the exacting method.
Additional drawings further attest Romney's study of antique sculpture. A muse appears in two studies (35 and 92). The figure's pose was used later in portraits of Sarah Siddons, which demonstrates how lessons learned in Italy lodged in the artist's mind and influenced later works. A more immediate use of lessons learned in Italy is seen in Romney's painting of a Wood Nymph (lost; now known from an engraving). The pose of the nymph (as well as the figure's hair style) build on those seen in a pen and ink drawing after the antique in this volume (134) as well as on life studies in Barrow No.3 (143, 178, 179).
A pen and ink drawing (34) is of interest for its possible connection to a prospective portrait commission of the artist's. Inspired by, though not an exact copy of, The Weeping Dacian in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome, it depicts a grieving woman in carefully detailed classical costume. As such, it may relate to Romney's portrait of Mrs. Anne Wilson and her Daughter, a commemorative portrait of the mother and her deceased daughter. A study for this portrait is in Yale No.7.
One identified study from the antique (56; see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition in A. Kidson, ed.: Those Delightful Regions of Imagination: Essays on George Romney (2002)) copies a sculpture of Diana in the Villa Doria Pamphili. Originally an Amazon, this sculpture was extensively restored in the seventeenth century and transformed into a statue of Diana. Another drawing (11) is a study of a Niobid. The precise subject of other works is conjectural; for example, No. 23 could be based on a Tyrannicides group but the drawing is too vague to be certain. Additional studies from the antique awaiting identification of specific source are: 80, 86, 88, 90, 96, 102, 104, 105, 120, 132, 146, 148.
Several drawings may reflect Renaissance sources (16, 17, 21, 27, 29). The veiled woman seen in profile in no. 29 resembles depictions of Susannah in drawings of The Accusation of Susannah. Also of possible Renaissance derivation are three studies of a standing woman holding a baby (98).
A secondary aim of the artist in this sketchbook was to improve his understanding of anatomy. This is manifest in drawings from an écorché figure, which include separate studies of the neck, arms, back and leg. (158, 160, 161). Specific muscles are numbered and listed at the side of the page with their Latin names. Very possibly Romney was sketching and receiving instruction at the French Academy in Rome as the écorché drawn in this sketchbook is from the Houdon cast in the possession of the French Academy (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition (as above) p. 198, fig. 73). Additional drawings of anatomical details include nos. 81, 83, 112. The relationship of anatomy and proportion is demonstrated in a study of Germanicus (18) and discussed in notes in the artist's hand (1-3). Drawings which may have been done from life include Nos. 57, 58, 60, 61, 114, 115,116, 122, and 124.
What appears to be an architectural plan is included in the sketchbook (47). At first glance it suggests the plan for a church with a dome over the crossing. However, if this is correct, the choir is inordinately elongated and thus difficult to rationalize. Another architectural drawing is of an elevation of St. Peter's, with subsidiary buildings to the right (139).
Several drawings seem distinctly out of place in this volume. Identified in Gaythorpe's hand as Milton: "Adam and Eve" (38-41; 44-45, 48, 52) the basic composition depicts two angels, one extending a spear to touch two reclining figures on the ground; a figure with arms outspread appears to the right hovering above the reclining figures. This is a subject Romney depicted regularly in the 1790s. Its presence here is surprising.
Besides the notes on ideal proportions on pp. 1-3, additional notes by the artist appear on p. 144, which begin "In contradiction to Mr. Webb ... " and go on to discuss theories of composition, a further indication of the self-tutoring purpose of this sketchbook. Another directive appears on p. 156: ‘Attempt to paint/with a fat pencil/be very earful [sic] to lay/the colour on/right and with good/gusto-’
YRD
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-242.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 35) bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney
Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on paper; 19 x 13 cm; drawings and notations on 163 numbered leaves (including back inside cover), of which 80 leaves are blank; vellum binding.
This sketchbook is expressive of Romney's self- tutoring while in Italy, which involved studying anatomy, copying from antique and Renaissance works, and drawing from life. The drawings themselves are varied in technique and style. Some are simple and schematic. Their summary manner suggests Romney's intent to record quickly and economically compositional arrangements and specific poses. A case in point is no. 7, most likely drawn from a classical relief, depicting a warrior being carried from the field by three companions; two horses' heads appear to the left. Forms are blocked out, with the addition of minimal patches of shading, to capture the basics of the composition. (These drawings should be compared to those similar in style in Louvre No.4 in any future determination of the authenticity of that sketchbook.)
Instead of an economical blocking out of an entire composition, Romney's aim is different in studies of the Laocoon group (66, 68, 70, 72, 74, and 76; see additional studies in Yale No.7, also an Italian sketchbook), The aim here is fidelity in copying specific details. These outline drawings, enhanced with careful hatching, capture with precision the specific elements selected, among them the agonized expression of Laocoon and one of his sons. These might have been done in an academic setting, which would have inspired the exacting method.
Additional drawings further attest Romney's study of antique sculpture. A muse appears in two studies (35 and 92). The figure's pose was used later in portraits of Sarah Siddons, which demonstrates how lessons learned in Italy lodged in the artist's mind and influenced later works. A more immediate use of lessons learned in Italy is seen in Romney's painting of a Wood Nymph (lost; now known from an engraving). The pose of the nymph (as well as the figure's hair style) build on those seen in a pen and ink drawing after the antique in this volume (134) as well as on life studies in Barrow No.3 (143, 178, 179).
A pen and ink drawing (34) is of interest for its possible connection to a prospective portrait commission of the artist's. Inspired by, though not an exact copy of, The Weeping Dacian in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome, it depicts a grieving woman in carefully detailed classical costume. As such, it may relate to Romney's portrait of Mrs. Anne Wilson and her Daughter, a commemorative portrait of the mother and her deceased daughter. A study for this portrait is in Yale No.7.
One identified study from the antique (56; see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition in A. Kidson, ed.: Those Delightful Regions of Imagination: Essays on George Romney (2002)) copies a sculpture of Diana in the Villa Doria Pamphili. Originally an Amazon, this sculpture was extensively restored in the seventeenth century and transformed into a statue of Diana. Another drawing (11) is a study of a Niobid. The precise subject of other works is conjectural; for example, No. 23 could be based on a Tyrannicides group but the drawing is too vague to be certain. Additional studies from the antique awaiting identification of specific source are: 80, 86, 88, 90, 96, 102, 104, 105, 120, 132, 146, 148.
Several drawings may reflect Renaissance sources (16, 17, 21, 27, 29). The veiled woman seen in profile in no. 29 resembles depictions of Susannah in drawings of The Accusation of Susannah. Also of possible Renaissance derivation are three studies of a standing woman holding a baby (98).
A secondary aim of the artist in this sketchbook was to improve his understanding of anatomy. This is manifest in drawings from an écorché figure, which include separate studies of the neck, arms, back and leg. (158, 160, 161). Specific muscles are numbered and listed at the side of the page with their Latin names. Very possibly Romney was sketching and receiving instruction at the French Academy in Rome as the écorché drawn in this sketchbook is from the Houdon cast in the possession of the French Academy (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition (as above) p. 198, fig. 73). Additional drawings of anatomical details include nos. 81, 83, 112. The relationship of anatomy and proportion is demonstrated in a study of Germanicus (18) and discussed in notes in the artist's hand (1-3). Drawings which may have been done from life include Nos. 57, 58, 60, 61, 114, 115,116, 122, and 124.
What appears to be an architectural plan is included in the sketchbook (47). At first glance it suggests the plan for a church with a dome over the crossing. However, if this is correct, the choir is inordinately elongated and thus difficult to rationalize. Another architectural drawing is of an elevation of St. Peter's, with subsidiary buildings to the right (139).
Several drawings seem distinctly out of place in this volume. Identified in Gaythorpe's hand as Milton: "Adam and Eve" (38-41; 44-45, 48, 52) the basic composition depicts two angels, one extending a spear to touch two reclining figures on the ground; a figure with arms outspread appears to the right hovering above the reclining figures. This is a subject Romney depicted regularly in the 1790s. Its presence here is surprising.
Besides the notes on ideal proportions on pp. 1-3, additional notes by the artist appear on p. 144, which begin "In contradiction to Mr. Webb ... " and go on to discuss theories of composition, a further indication of the self-tutoring purpose of this sketchbook. Another directive appears on p. 156: ‘Attempt to paint/with a fat pencil/be very earful [sic] to lay/the colour on/right and with good/gusto-’
YRD
BARROW SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Fumess, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-243.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 35); bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite, ink and wash on paper; 22.5 x 30 cm; 91 leaves numbered consecutively 1-179, with the first and last two sides unnumbered; 65 of the numbered leaves are blank; two leaves (pp. 94-97) are extrinsic to the sketchbook; board binding.
Another of Romney's Italian sketchbooks, this one is particularly notable for containing many life studies from the female model described by the artist’s son (John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p. 97). These depict the woman nude, draped, and dressed in a classically-styled gown. This very important group of drawings, so dramatically different in style from the portfolio of drawings of female nudes in the Fitzwilliam Museum, traditionally thought to be the life studies mentioned by John Romney, are clearly done from life and must be those mentioned by Romney's son. The drawings run in sequence from p. 142 to the end of the volume - interrupted once by a different subject entirely (165), a highly finished pen and ink and wash drawing of a round arch and wall in the Colosseum. The relevant drawings are nos. 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 177, 178, 179 (with some sheets blank interspersed). One drawing of a nude in the series (155) has the pose and profile of the Venus de'Medici. Another drawing in the sketchbook (102) may possibly depict the mother of Romney's model, who chaperoned her daughter at all sittings. Middle- aged, with a double chin and protruding upper lip, she, too, is surely studied from life.
Besides this large and important group of drawings from a live model the sketchbook includes other classes of drawings which reflect aims of the artist's self tutoring. An écorché drawing is included (11), as are studies from the antique and from Renaissance art.
Among the classical sculptures studied in the sketchbook are the Dioscurii (19, 39, 41, 43, 48, 49), Gaul and his Wife (1), the head of Zeus (9) and (28), the Capitoline Venus (10), Lion Attacking a Horse [Capitoline] (13); also the head of the Nymph with a Shell (25), Niobid (83), and Orestes and Pylades in Tauris (34, 35) (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition in A. Kidson, ed.: Those Delightful Regions of Imagination: Essays on George Romney (2002) p. 196, fig. 71). Additional drawings after the antique, still to be tied to specific sources, include nos. 5, 20, 25, 27, 29, 37,44, 51, 55, 109, 112, 113, and 121.
Studies based on Renaissance works, though less numerous, are also found. These include figures from Raphael's Fire in the Borgo (7) and Michelangelo's Moses from the tomb of Julius II (15), and possibly nos. 21 and 33, additional studies of bearded men, presumably after Michelangelo.
The sketchbook contains numerous landscape drawings. Some of these affirm the artist's sensitive response to landscape in the Campagna. Several are similar to those in Louvre No.3. Romney records his forays into the countryside in a straightforwardly topographic fashion. Trees, hills, and architectural elements are presented small scale under a wide sky alive with clouds (68). One drawing spans both leaves of its opening (nos. 57-58), focusing primarily on an aqueduct, minuscule in size but carefully shaded, with suggestions of cypress trees and buildings. No. 75 studies cypress trees on a hillside. Drawings similar in scope are 77, 79, 86, 89, 91, 103, 117, 119, 123, 130, and 133. No. 137 stands out because of the bizarre detail of a hugely out of proportion domed structure within a meticulously rendered complex of buildings rising above a steep hill.
Several drawings done on site at Tivoli show the so-called Temple of Vesta and the Temple of the Sibyl. (60,87, 127). Assuming the three drawings were done on the same excursion, it is notable that they do not run in sequence but are spread out through the volume, interspersed amongst unrelated subjects. This illustrates the randomness with which drawings are laid down in many of the artist's sketchbooks.
Drawings done in Rome itself include Bernini's Colonnade at St. Peter's (99) and four drawings of the Colosseum. One shows this monument, along with the Arch of Constantine, in a wide landscape view from the Palatine (65). The other three are close-up views of arches and walls in the interior of the Colosseum (63, 81, and 165). The first two of these employ graphite, while the third is a finely detailed drawing built up through carefully graded tonal washes and delicate ink lines. It has the look of a presentation drawing though it remains in the sketchbook. These three drawings - evocative meditations on ruins - register Romney's Romantic sensibility; as do two dramatic landscape drawings, the first an image of a crashing waterfall (l39); the second of a misty cavern (141). Finally, two singular drawings in the sketchbook render, at close range, precise observations from nature: a plant (probably a type of philodendron) climbing round a tree trunk (67) and a sprightly toad (74).
On p. 45, the following appears in the artist's hand: ‘Grandure to a head is given by making the form/ above the eyes larger-/In MichAngelo - He generally [?] to produce/ some [?] lines above his figures in particular his/ draperys, and great bredths in the Lights -/ when his figure were in darke draperys he/ put them upon broad light grounds and if there/ was any thing to be rich he put it in & the darker/ parts of the ground with lights breaking upon/ it - when his groups were light the grounds/ were darker and plane if there was little space/ growing from the light in the fore ground -/again. when an ornamental part of the ground/ was in light he grouped it with the figure./ His outlines of draperys were long and were/ straight or curved -The actions of his/ figures [?] such as cannot be/ come at without the assistance off/ nature. His figures above the shoulders/ were large his arms in the upper/ parts also and all the extremitys/ small-the [?] muscule large/ gives grander to a Figure-’
Two pages, numbered 94, 95, 96, 97 and measuring 21 x 27.5 cm are not integral to the sketchbook and have been inserted. No. 95 depicts a nude man in a helmet with a sword in his raised right hand, grasping a woman seated on the ground with arms upraised to the man's left arm. A female figure in the sky appears above and behind the figures. These are executed in pen and brown ink over graphite. No. 97, also in pen and brown ink, depicts in two studies the heads and shoulders of figures in a crowd.
YRD
Location: Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow-in-Fumess, Cumbria. Inventory No. Z-243.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie's 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 35); bought by Maggs Bros.; from whom bought by Harper Gaythorpe; by descent to Sidney Gaythorpe; from whom bought in 1951 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite, ink and wash on paper; 22.5 x 30 cm; 91 leaves numbered consecutively 1-179, with the first and last two sides unnumbered; 65 of the numbered leaves are blank; two leaves (pp. 94-97) are extrinsic to the sketchbook; board binding.
Another of Romney's Italian sketchbooks, this one is particularly notable for containing many life studies from the female model described by the artist’s son (John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p. 97). These depict the woman nude, draped, and dressed in a classically-styled gown. This very important group of drawings, so dramatically different in style from the portfolio of drawings of female nudes in the Fitzwilliam Museum, traditionally thought to be the life studies mentioned by John Romney, are clearly done from life and must be those mentioned by Romney's son. The drawings run in sequence from p. 142 to the end of the volume - interrupted once by a different subject entirely (165), a highly finished pen and ink and wash drawing of a round arch and wall in the Colosseum. The relevant drawings are nos. 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 177, 178, 179 (with some sheets blank interspersed). One drawing of a nude in the series (155) has the pose and profile of the Venus de'Medici. Another drawing in the sketchbook (102) may possibly depict the mother of Romney's model, who chaperoned her daughter at all sittings. Middle- aged, with a double chin and protruding upper lip, she, too, is surely studied from life.
Besides this large and important group of drawings from a live model the sketchbook includes other classes of drawings which reflect aims of the artist's self tutoring. An écorché drawing is included (11), as are studies from the antique and from Renaissance art.
Among the classical sculptures studied in the sketchbook are the Dioscurii (19, 39, 41, 43, 48, 49), Gaul and his Wife (1), the head of Zeus (9) and (28), the Capitoline Venus (10), Lion Attacking a Horse [Capitoline] (13); also the head of the Nymph with a Shell (25), Niobid (83), and Orestes and Pylades in Tauris (34, 35) (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: Romney's Drawings and Academic Tradition in A. Kidson, ed.: Those Delightful Regions of Imagination: Essays on George Romney (2002) p. 196, fig. 71). Additional drawings after the antique, still to be tied to specific sources, include nos. 5, 20, 25, 27, 29, 37,44, 51, 55, 109, 112, 113, and 121.
Studies based on Renaissance works, though less numerous, are also found. These include figures from Raphael's Fire in the Borgo (7) and Michelangelo's Moses from the tomb of Julius II (15), and possibly nos. 21 and 33, additional studies of bearded men, presumably after Michelangelo.
The sketchbook contains numerous landscape drawings. Some of these affirm the artist's sensitive response to landscape in the Campagna. Several are similar to those in Louvre No.3. Romney records his forays into the countryside in a straightforwardly topographic fashion. Trees, hills, and architectural elements are presented small scale under a wide sky alive with clouds (68). One drawing spans both leaves of its opening (nos. 57-58), focusing primarily on an aqueduct, minuscule in size but carefully shaded, with suggestions of cypress trees and buildings. No. 75 studies cypress trees on a hillside. Drawings similar in scope are 77, 79, 86, 89, 91, 103, 117, 119, 123, 130, and 133. No. 137 stands out because of the bizarre detail of a hugely out of proportion domed structure within a meticulously rendered complex of buildings rising above a steep hill.
Several drawings done on site at Tivoli show the so-called Temple of Vesta and the Temple of the Sibyl. (60,87, 127). Assuming the three drawings were done on the same excursion, it is notable that they do not run in sequence but are spread out through the volume, interspersed amongst unrelated subjects. This illustrates the randomness with which drawings are laid down in many of the artist's sketchbooks.
Drawings done in Rome itself include Bernini's Colonnade at St. Peter's (99) and four drawings of the Colosseum. One shows this monument, along with the Arch of Constantine, in a wide landscape view from the Palatine (65). The other three are close-up views of arches and walls in the interior of the Colosseum (63, 81, and 165). The first two of these employ graphite, while the third is a finely detailed drawing built up through carefully graded tonal washes and delicate ink lines. It has the look of a presentation drawing though it remains in the sketchbook. These three drawings - evocative meditations on ruins - register Romney's Romantic sensibility; as do two dramatic landscape drawings, the first an image of a crashing waterfall (l39); the second of a misty cavern (141). Finally, two singular drawings in the sketchbook render, at close range, precise observations from nature: a plant (probably a type of philodendron) climbing round a tree trunk (67) and a sprightly toad (74).
On p. 45, the following appears in the artist's hand: ‘Grandure to a head is given by making the form/ above the eyes larger-/In MichAngelo - He generally [?] to produce/ some [?] lines above his figures in particular his/ draperys, and great bredths in the Lights -/ when his figure were in darke draperys he/ put them upon broad light grounds and if there/ was any thing to be rich he put it in & the darker/ parts of the ground with lights breaking upon/ it - when his groups were light the grounds/ were darker and plane if there was little space/ growing from the light in the fore ground -/again. when an ornamental part of the ground/ was in light he grouped it with the figure./ His outlines of draperys were long and were/ straight or curved -The actions of his/ figures [?] such as cannot be/ come at without the assistance off/ nature. His figures above the shoulders/ were large his arms in the upper/ parts also and all the extremitys/ small-the [?] muscule large/ gives grander to a Figure-’
Two pages, numbered 94, 95, 96, 97 and measuring 21 x 27.5 cm are not integral to the sketchbook and have been inserted. No. 95 depicts a nude man in a helmet with a sword in his raised right hand, grasping a woman seated on the ground with arms upraised to the man's left arm. A female figure in the sky appears above and behind the figures. These are executed in pen and brown ink over graphite. No. 97, also in pen and brown ink, depicts in two studies the heads and shoulders of figures in a crowd.
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BRITISH MUSEUM SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1896,0511.30.1-43.
Provenance: ... Lawrence Romney; from whom bought in 1896 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink (some graphite) on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 45 pages, numbered 1-43 (2 pages unnumbered and page 28 is out of sequence at the end of the book, having presumably been re-bound); many pages removed; vellum binding.
This is one of a cluster of physically similar sketchbooks - compare also the Courtauld Nos. 1 and 4, Melbourne, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy and Stockholm sketchbooks - which Romney began using in the late 1760s. He may have bought them all together and had some idea of
using them for separate purposes, but soon they seem to have been in use all together, and randomly, so that the same subjects occur across several of them. The present sketchbook, nevertheless, is distinctive for the number of drawings which have been taken to a high level of finish, and the style of the draughtsmanship is more lucid than usual. There are few of the scrappy, preliminary or aborted sketches which are common in the other sketchbooks in this group. Given the book's provenance, it is legitimate to wonder whether Lawrence Romney himself tore out pages which in his view did not show the artist at his best. The sketchbook is full of the type of large studies of expressive heads, carefully drawn and hatched in ink, which disappear from Romney's work after the early 1770s and which might be considered a leftover from his early, Kendal days. Probably representing figures in Shakespearean subjects, particularly King Lear and Macbeth, they may well, in the 1890s, have seemed the most significant drawings in the volume.
These heads apart, recognizable subjects in the sketchbook include Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches (pp. 2v, 3v, l0v) A Mother and Child, perhaps early ideas for the work which Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771 (pp. 6, 21, 21 v, 22, 22v, 23), Sir Roger De Coverley and the Gypsies (p. 35v) and Hagar and the Angel (p. 41 v). The sequence of studies beginning at p. 8 appears to be a treatment of the Cavern Scene in 'Macbeth', with Macbeth accosting witches round a cauldron, and at p. 15 a crowd scene may be for The Accusation of Susannah. On p. 20 there is a fully developed sketch for the subject of Diana and Callisto, from Ovid, in which the goddess banishes her handmaiden on discovering that she is pregnant. Otherwise unknown in Romney's oeuvre, this subject adds weight to the idea (see Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002) p. 79, note 6) that Romney was studying the works of Richard Wilson in the late 1760s.
AK
Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1896,0511.30.1-43.
Provenance: ... Lawrence Romney; from whom bought in 1896 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink (some graphite) on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 45 pages, numbered 1-43 (2 pages unnumbered and page 28 is out of sequence at the end of the book, having presumably been re-bound); many pages removed; vellum binding.
This is one of a cluster of physically similar sketchbooks - compare also the Courtauld Nos. 1 and 4, Melbourne, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy and Stockholm sketchbooks - which Romney began using in the late 1760s. He may have bought them all together and had some idea of
using them for separate purposes, but soon they seem to have been in use all together, and randomly, so that the same subjects occur across several of them. The present sketchbook, nevertheless, is distinctive for the number of drawings which have been taken to a high level of finish, and the style of the draughtsmanship is more lucid than usual. There are few of the scrappy, preliminary or aborted sketches which are common in the other sketchbooks in this group. Given the book's provenance, it is legitimate to wonder whether Lawrence Romney himself tore out pages which in his view did not show the artist at his best. The sketchbook is full of the type of large studies of expressive heads, carefully drawn and hatched in ink, which disappear from Romney's work after the early 1770s and which might be considered a leftover from his early, Kendal days. Probably representing figures in Shakespearean subjects, particularly King Lear and Macbeth, they may well, in the 1890s, have seemed the most significant drawings in the volume.
These heads apart, recognizable subjects in the sketchbook include Macbeth, Banquo and the Witches (pp. 2v, 3v, l0v) A Mother and Child, perhaps early ideas for the work which Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771 (pp. 6, 21, 21 v, 22, 22v, 23), Sir Roger De Coverley and the Gypsies (p. 35v) and Hagar and the Angel (p. 41 v). The sequence of studies beginning at p. 8 appears to be a treatment of the Cavern Scene in 'Macbeth', with Macbeth accosting witches round a cauldron, and at p. 15 a crowd scene may be for The Accusation of Susannah. On p. 20 there is a fully developed sketch for the subject of Diana and Callisto, from Ovid, in which the goddess banishes her handmaiden on discovering that she is pregnant. Otherwise unknown in Romney's oeuvre, this subject adds weight to the idea (see Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002) p. 79, note 6) that Romney was studying the works of Richard Wilson in the late 1760s.
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BRITISH MUSEUM SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1921,0714.1.
Provenance: ... Given anonymously in 1921 through the National Art-Collections Fund to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of drawings in graphite and ink, a few with wash, on cream laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 64 pages, numbered 1-64 on the rectos; 2 leaves tom out; unidentified watermark; board binding.
The front cover of the sketchbook is inscribed, in Romney's hand, Milton July 1792. However, the back endpaper has the inscription July 22 1790; and the first pages contain notes relating to Romney's visit to France in the late summer of that year. There is a list of instructions to himself: Remember a Layman at Paris and Lyons Tools/ Rennols a Tour through Flanders/ ... Powder and bag and puff & Brush/ 3 prs Spectacles - Tooth Brush. On the next page there is a list of French phrases, perhaps copied out for him by Hayley. At the other end of the sketchbook (pp. 63v-64) there is an extended draft of a letter to John Flaxman, relating to a purchase of casts from the antique. This is followed by a draft letter to Lady Dartmouth telling her that the portrait of her daughter, Lady Charlotte Legge, is completed. This must have been written between the end of March 1792 and 12 April 1793, when the portrait was sent away to be engraved.
After two sketches for Milton and His Daughters (pp. 1-1v) there is a long sequence of studies for John Howard Visiting a Prison (pp. 6-18) and this in turn is followed by a group depicting Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Only then does Milton come to the fore, with a series of studies for the Expulsion of Adam and Eve, from 'Paradise Lost' (pp. 24v-42), interspersed with other unidentified subjects, probably from Milton. The sectional character of the sketchbook is unusual, suggesting it was actually in use over a very brief period. It would appear that having bought it in 1790 Romney laid it aside - he may very well have forgotten to take it to France - and that he took it up again only on his trip to Eartham in July 1792 when at the outset he probably intended to work on Hayley's pet 'John Howard' project, but when, following his introduction to William Cowper, the study of Milton became the order of the day.
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Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1921,0714.1.
Provenance: ... Given anonymously in 1921 through the National Art-Collections Fund to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of drawings in graphite and ink, a few with wash, on cream laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 64 pages, numbered 1-64 on the rectos; 2 leaves tom out; unidentified watermark; board binding.
The front cover of the sketchbook is inscribed, in Romney's hand, Milton July 1792. However, the back endpaper has the inscription July 22 1790; and the first pages contain notes relating to Romney's visit to France in the late summer of that year. There is a list of instructions to himself: Remember a Layman at Paris and Lyons Tools/ Rennols a Tour through Flanders/ ... Powder and bag and puff & Brush/ 3 prs Spectacles - Tooth Brush. On the next page there is a list of French phrases, perhaps copied out for him by Hayley. At the other end of the sketchbook (pp. 63v-64) there is an extended draft of a letter to John Flaxman, relating to a purchase of casts from the antique. This is followed by a draft letter to Lady Dartmouth telling her that the portrait of her daughter, Lady Charlotte Legge, is completed. This must have been written between the end of March 1792 and 12 April 1793, when the portrait was sent away to be engraved.
After two sketches for Milton and His Daughters (pp. 1-1v) there is a long sequence of studies for John Howard Visiting a Prison (pp. 6-18) and this in turn is followed by a group depicting Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Only then does Milton come to the fore, with a series of studies for the Expulsion of Adam and Eve, from 'Paradise Lost' (pp. 24v-42), interspersed with other unidentified subjects, probably from Milton. The sectional character of the sketchbook is unusual, suggesting it was actually in use over a very brief period. It would appear that having bought it in 1790 Romney laid it aside - he may very well have forgotten to take it to France - and that he took it up again only on his trip to Eartham in July 1792 when at the outset he probably intended to work on Hayley's pet 'John Howard' project, but when, following his introduction to William Cowper, the study of Milton became the order of the day.
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BRITISH MUSEUM SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1978,1216.13.1-21
Provenance: ... Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the Royal Institution of Cornwall; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (23); bought by Hodgkin; … Anthony Reed; from whom bought in 1978 by the present owner.
Description: Ink, graphite and watercolour on laid paper; 18 x 27 cm; 21 pages, numbered 1-21; one page removed; unidentified watermark; paper binding.
This is an unusual sketchbook, firstly because it is physically a different type of book from the norm, with its small number of pages and flimsy binding; and secondly because almost uniquely, it contains watercolours. It may have been sold to Romney specifically for watercolour painting; and certainly he began using it by making landscape studies in watercolour on the first 6 rectos. There is nothing quite like this anywhere else in his work. However, after two intervening pages with faint sketches of woodland in pencil, the rest of the sketchbook settles down into much more the standard Romney affair, with a mixture of sketches on both sides of the paper.
The sketchbook is not easy to date but one clue is given by two studies for Emma as Alope (pp. 19, 20), which Romney probably worked on in early 1784. The character of the subjects elsewhere in the volume is elusive, but there is a general, almost indefinable overlap (especially in the woodland subjects and the horse and rider motif scattered throughout) with the contents of the Houston sketchbook, which bears the date of September 1783. The question remains over how long a period the book was in use. The only other recognizable study is an early trial for Boys in a Boat Drifting out to sea (p. 9), a work which was a long time in gestation but for which Romney is known to have employed the same child model - the son of a guardsman who died young - as for the Alope. Another drawing, for a half-length female portrait in which the sitter is shown holding a book or miniature (p. 14) has been identified - although it does not much resemble the finished composition - as a study for Mrs Crouch for which sittings began in February 1787. That seems on the late side for the general style of the other drawings here, but is not impossible. Equally problematic are the drawings on pp. 9v, of the head of a bonneted woman, 10v, of two expressive heads in profile, and 16v, of a group of men disputing at a table. All these are drawn crisply in ink and look as though they ought to be from substantially earlier than the mid- 1780s. However, it is possible that they were all studied from the life, and Romney consciously used a different style of draughtsmanship in order to capture the figures as swiftly as possible.
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Location: Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. Inventory No. 1978,1216.13.1-21
Provenance: ... Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the Royal Institution of Cornwall; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (23); bought by Hodgkin; … Anthony Reed; from whom bought in 1978 by the present owner.
Description: Ink, graphite and watercolour on laid paper; 18 x 27 cm; 21 pages, numbered 1-21; one page removed; unidentified watermark; paper binding.
This is an unusual sketchbook, firstly because it is physically a different type of book from the norm, with its small number of pages and flimsy binding; and secondly because almost uniquely, it contains watercolours. It may have been sold to Romney specifically for watercolour painting; and certainly he began using it by making landscape studies in watercolour on the first 6 rectos. There is nothing quite like this anywhere else in his work. However, after two intervening pages with faint sketches of woodland in pencil, the rest of the sketchbook settles down into much more the standard Romney affair, with a mixture of sketches on both sides of the paper.
The sketchbook is not easy to date but one clue is given by two studies for Emma as Alope (pp. 19, 20), which Romney probably worked on in early 1784. The character of the subjects elsewhere in the volume is elusive, but there is a general, almost indefinable overlap (especially in the woodland subjects and the horse and rider motif scattered throughout) with the contents of the Houston sketchbook, which bears the date of September 1783. The question remains over how long a period the book was in use. The only other recognizable study is an early trial for Boys in a Boat Drifting out to sea (p. 9), a work which was a long time in gestation but for which Romney is known to have employed the same child model - the son of a guardsman who died young - as for the Alope. Another drawing, for a half-length female portrait in which the sitter is shown holding a book or miniature (p. 14) has been identified - although it does not much resemble the finished composition - as a study for Mrs Crouch for which sittings began in February 1787. That seems on the late side for the general style of the other drawings here, but is not impossible. Equally problematic are the drawings on pp. 9v, of the head of a bonneted woman, 10v, of two expressive heads in profile, and 16v, of a group of men disputing at a table. All these are drawn crisply in ink and look as though they ought to be from substantially earlier than the mid- 1780s. However, it is possible that they were all studied from the life, and Romney consciously used a different style of draughtsmanship in order to capture the figures as swiftly as possible.
AK
CHICAGO SKETCHBOOK
Location: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL. Inventory No. 1960.193.
Provenance: ... Swetzoff Gallery; bought by Mrs. Leigh B. Block; given by her in 1960 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream wove paper; 14.5 x 23.5 cm; 16 pages, numbered 1-32 on rectos and versos; J Whatman watermark; board and leather binding, stamped George Romney and 1734-1802 in gold; housed in a calf volume with gold tooling and marbled paper lining. Partially photographed.
The sketchbook contains graphite inscriptions inside the front and back covers, and on both sides of page 1. The verso of p. 1 and recto of all following leaves have graphite sketches of nude figures, most in groups, described in Institute files as ‘Miltonic ... with three composition roughs for The Temptation of Christ.’ Sketches for The Temptation of Christ (27, 29, and 31) form a coherent group of composition studies in sequence, an approach which does not prevail with drawings earlier in the volume, which range more randomly. A drawing showing a figure seated on clouds and a plunging figure (5) probably also relates to The Temptation of Christ.
The drawings in the sketchbook employ a patchwork of light and dark areas to highlight parts of human bodies and to weave figures into a dark background. By the end of 1794, casts Romney had ordered from Flaxman in Italy had arrived and he was fond of showing them to visitors at night under strong lighting from an overhead source. This would have accentuated the contrast of light and dark on the casts, an effect Romney incorporated in these drawings. There is a close similarity in the rendering of male nudes seen from the back in this sketchbook with those in Stanford No. 1. That sketchbook can be firmly dated to 1794; thus it is likely this sketchbook was used by the artist at the same time. Romney confided to Hayley in a letter of February 15, 1794 that, among other subjects from Milton, he planned three paintings of Adam and Eve. One of the compositions featuring the pair is the Expulsion, a number of drawings for which exist. Drawings in the present sketchbook include figures brandishing flails, which echo the Archangel Michael in scenes of the Expulsion. Here, however, the whip-wielders are shown in a different context, one which Victor Chan has suggested may represent The Rape of the Sabines. Certain vignettes may support this, as in no. 13, where males appear to whip and grab at cowering and struggling females; however, it is punishment rather than appropriation of the figures (as in a rape) which is suggested.
Two superimposed male heads, the front one smaller than the one behind it appear on p. 11. Written material (1-2) includes the draft of a letter mentioning a possible trip to Holland.
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Location: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL. Inventory No. 1960.193.
Provenance: ... Swetzoff Gallery; bought by Mrs. Leigh B. Block; given by her in 1960 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream wove paper; 14.5 x 23.5 cm; 16 pages, numbered 1-32 on rectos and versos; J Whatman watermark; board and leather binding, stamped George Romney and 1734-1802 in gold; housed in a calf volume with gold tooling and marbled paper lining. Partially photographed.
The sketchbook contains graphite inscriptions inside the front and back covers, and on both sides of page 1. The verso of p. 1 and recto of all following leaves have graphite sketches of nude figures, most in groups, described in Institute files as ‘Miltonic ... with three composition roughs for The Temptation of Christ.’ Sketches for The Temptation of Christ (27, 29, and 31) form a coherent group of composition studies in sequence, an approach which does not prevail with drawings earlier in the volume, which range more randomly. A drawing showing a figure seated on clouds and a plunging figure (5) probably also relates to The Temptation of Christ.
The drawings in the sketchbook employ a patchwork of light and dark areas to highlight parts of human bodies and to weave figures into a dark background. By the end of 1794, casts Romney had ordered from Flaxman in Italy had arrived and he was fond of showing them to visitors at night under strong lighting from an overhead source. This would have accentuated the contrast of light and dark on the casts, an effect Romney incorporated in these drawings. There is a close similarity in the rendering of male nudes seen from the back in this sketchbook with those in Stanford No. 1. That sketchbook can be firmly dated to 1794; thus it is likely this sketchbook was used by the artist at the same time. Romney confided to Hayley in a letter of February 15, 1794 that, among other subjects from Milton, he planned three paintings of Adam and Eve. One of the compositions featuring the pair is the Expulsion, a number of drawings for which exist. Drawings in the present sketchbook include figures brandishing flails, which echo the Archangel Michael in scenes of the Expulsion. Here, however, the whip-wielders are shown in a different context, one which Victor Chan has suggested may represent The Rape of the Sabines. Certain vignettes may support this, as in no. 13, where males appear to whip and grab at cowering and struggling females; however, it is punishment rather than appropriation of the figures (as in a rape) which is suggested.
Two superimposed male heads, the front one smaller than the one behind it appear on p. 11. Written material (1-2) includes the draft of a letter mentioning a possible trip to Holland.
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COURTAULD SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 1848.
Provenance: ... G. E. Leon; Sotheby’s 13 May 1924 (19); bought by Robert Witt; by whom given
in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings (a few in graphite) on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 41 pages, numbered 1-41 on the rectos; numerous pages removed; watermark of J Whatman; vellum binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute.
This is one of a group of similar sketchbooks (see British Museum No.1) dateable to around 1770. The drawing in this book is consistently free and loose, conveying the notion that these are preliminary thoughts, to be worked up in greater detail elsewhere; and also that Romney was consciously searching for greater rapidity and spontaneity in his drawing. The contrast with the tight, delicate pencil style of only two or three years earlier as embodied in the Kendal sketchbook could hardly be greater.
The files on this sketchbook at the Courtauld contain detailed identifications of its subject matter. Given Romney's habitual elisions from one subject to another, and his chaotic rather than sequential use of pages, some of these identifications should be treated with caution. Thus for example the studies on pp. 6, 6v and 7v which have been identified as of Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches are surely for Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, even though later in the sketchbook, at pages 31v - 32v, there do appear to be studies for a 'Macbeth and the Witches' scene. Similarly, it would be premature to regard as definitive the identification of the study on page 7 of a standing female figure holding an urn in one hand and with a small child on the other arm, which has been described as for one of the figures in The Accusation of Susannah. A certain characteristic type of crowd scene which Romney sketched at this period is generally identified as this subject - and there are several short sequences within this sketchbook. Yet when taken with the similar studies of more bacchante-like females on pp. 4 and 5v, this sketch may be more likely to relate to the Mirth exhibited in 1770.
The subject studied most frequently in the course of the sketchbook is Hagar and the Angel. Besides numerous studies for the whole composition there are also sketches for the individual figures. A short sequence of studies of a seated woman full length with a boy on her knee (pp. 9-10) has been related to a whole length portrait of around 1770 incorrectly known as The Duchess of Gordon and Son. Patricia Milne-Henderson, in The Drawings of George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass. (1962), cat. 6, had identified these sketches as for Romney's later genuine portrait of Lady Gordon and the Marquis of Huntly and accordingly dated this sketchbook to the period 1777-78. Even though Romney is known to have returned to both Macbeth and The Accusation of Susannah at that period, the style of the drawings in this book cannot be squared with this date.
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Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 1848.
Provenance: ... G. E. Leon; Sotheby’s 13 May 1924 (19); bought by Robert Witt; by whom given
in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings (a few in graphite) on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 41 pages, numbered 1-41 on the rectos; numerous pages removed; watermark of J Whatman; vellum binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute.
This is one of a group of similar sketchbooks (see British Museum No.1) dateable to around 1770. The drawing in this book is consistently free and loose, conveying the notion that these are preliminary thoughts, to be worked up in greater detail elsewhere; and also that Romney was consciously searching for greater rapidity and spontaneity in his drawing. The contrast with the tight, delicate pencil style of only two or three years earlier as embodied in the Kendal sketchbook could hardly be greater.
The files on this sketchbook at the Courtauld contain detailed identifications of its subject matter. Given Romney's habitual elisions from one subject to another, and his chaotic rather than sequential use of pages, some of these identifications should be treated with caution. Thus for example the studies on pp. 6, 6v and 7v which have been identified as of Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches are surely for Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, even though later in the sketchbook, at pages 31v - 32v, there do appear to be studies for a 'Macbeth and the Witches' scene. Similarly, it would be premature to regard as definitive the identification of the study on page 7 of a standing female figure holding an urn in one hand and with a small child on the other arm, which has been described as for one of the figures in The Accusation of Susannah. A certain characteristic type of crowd scene which Romney sketched at this period is generally identified as this subject - and there are several short sequences within this sketchbook. Yet when taken with the similar studies of more bacchante-like females on pp. 4 and 5v, this sketch may be more likely to relate to the Mirth exhibited in 1770.
The subject studied most frequently in the course of the sketchbook is Hagar and the Angel. Besides numerous studies for the whole composition there are also sketches for the individual figures. A short sequence of studies of a seated woman full length with a boy on her knee (pp. 9-10) has been related to a whole length portrait of around 1770 incorrectly known as The Duchess of Gordon and Son. Patricia Milne-Henderson, in The Drawings of George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass. (1962), cat. 6, had identified these sketches as for Romney's later genuine portrait of Lady Gordon and the Marquis of Huntly and accordingly dated this sketchbook to the period 1777-78. Even though Romney is known to have returned to both Macbeth and The Accusation of Susannah at that period, the style of the drawings in this book cannot be squared with this date.
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COURTAULD SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 2503.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the small blue-edged sale label is present on the cover); …Maggs Bros; Sotheby’s 31 May 1932 (27); bought by Robert Witt; by whom given in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream laid paper; 13 x 19 cm; 32 pages, numbered 1-32 on the rectos from back to front; some pages removed; watermark with crown over shield and GR monogram; leather binding.
This sketchbook (working from the back) opens with a remarkable sequence of drawings for the shipwreck scene in Shakespeare's Tempest, the painting that Romney eventually completed for Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery in April 1790, but that he had begun thinking about - as a three figure composition depicting Prospero, Miranda and Caliban on Prospero's enchanted island - before Emma Hart left for Naples in the spring of 1786 (see also Folger No.2). The sketches are drawn in a rapid, loose style on the rectos from pages 2 to 11 and may represent a single session of work. If so, they date from after the inception of the Boydell Gallery in November 1786, which led Romney to expand his conception of the subject, for midway through the sequence, Romney turns from studying the two-figure motif of Prospero with Miranda to adumbrating the whole of the new composition, with the shipwreck in the foreground (p. 9). He then studies the sailors, Alonso and Ferdinand. Nevertheless, this sequence is clearly from an early point in the gestation of the design, since Prospero and Miranda are still shown with Miranda facing to the viewer's right, and Prospero on her outside, a configuration Romney soon reversed; while the ship contains only a few sailors, not the crowd which became the focus of his later studies.
22
Studies for four other recognizable subjects occur in this volume. Two of these are the Banquet Scene (pp. 12, l3) and the Cavern Scene (pp. 23v, 24v) in Macbeth, where Romney returns to long-weighed scenes from one of his favourite Shakespeare plays with the new Boydell venture in mind. On page 14 there is a single study for Boys in a Boat Drifting out to sea and on pp. 20-21 there are sketches for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Romney's painting of the latter subject was not completed till 1793, and the study on page 20v resembles the finished composition quite closely, which raises the question whether Romney continued using this sketchbook for a number of years. However, it seems more likely that he began studying the subject some years earlier (according to Hayley, he made an oil sketch some considerable time before completing the painting). There is no other evidence that this sketchbook could have been in use as late as 1793 and all the indications are that it was used around 1787. The overlap of subject matter with Folger No.2 is telling; but also to be taken into account are a few studies for two portraits of ladies (surprising at this late stage of Romney's career at all, let alone in a sketchbook so predominantly given over to Shakespearean subject matter). One portrait is for a whole-length posed under a tree in a fancy hat (p. 22v) and the others are for a half-length (pp. 29, 30, 32). Neither sitter has been identified but both are strongly reminiscent of late-80s types.
On page 32v alongside the memoranda Mr Hodges Chancery Lane corner of Cony Street (judging from the address, not the artist William Hodges, although he and Romney were shortly to collaborate on the painting Jaques and the Stag for Boydell) and Ann Mullett (probably the name of a model) Romney wrote the date and time of an appointment: Mr Raikes Thursday 2 0 clock December 14th. 14 December fell on a Thursday in 1786.
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Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 2503.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the small blue-edged sale label is present on the cover); …Maggs Bros; Sotheby’s 31 May 1932 (27); bought by Robert Witt; by whom given in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on cream laid paper; 13 x 19 cm; 32 pages, numbered 1-32 on the rectos from back to front; some pages removed; watermark with crown over shield and GR monogram; leather binding.
This sketchbook (working from the back) opens with a remarkable sequence of drawings for the shipwreck scene in Shakespeare's Tempest, the painting that Romney eventually completed for Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery in April 1790, but that he had begun thinking about - as a three figure composition depicting Prospero, Miranda and Caliban on Prospero's enchanted island - before Emma Hart left for Naples in the spring of 1786 (see also Folger No.2). The sketches are drawn in a rapid, loose style on the rectos from pages 2 to 11 and may represent a single session of work. If so, they date from after the inception of the Boydell Gallery in November 1786, which led Romney to expand his conception of the subject, for midway through the sequence, Romney turns from studying the two-figure motif of Prospero with Miranda to adumbrating the whole of the new composition, with the shipwreck in the foreground (p. 9). He then studies the sailors, Alonso and Ferdinand. Nevertheless, this sequence is clearly from an early point in the gestation of the design, since Prospero and Miranda are still shown with Miranda facing to the viewer's right, and Prospero on her outside, a configuration Romney soon reversed; while the ship contains only a few sailors, not the crowd which became the focus of his later studies.
22
Studies for four other recognizable subjects occur in this volume. Two of these are the Banquet Scene (pp. 12, l3) and the Cavern Scene (pp. 23v, 24v) in Macbeth, where Romney returns to long-weighed scenes from one of his favourite Shakespeare plays with the new Boydell venture in mind. On page 14 there is a single study for Boys in a Boat Drifting out to sea and on pp. 20-21 there are sketches for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Romney's painting of the latter subject was not completed till 1793, and the study on page 20v resembles the finished composition quite closely, which raises the question whether Romney continued using this sketchbook for a number of years. However, it seems more likely that he began studying the subject some years earlier (according to Hayley, he made an oil sketch some considerable time before completing the painting). There is no other evidence that this sketchbook could have been in use as late as 1793 and all the indications are that it was used around 1787. The overlap of subject matter with Folger No.2 is telling; but also to be taken into account are a few studies for two portraits of ladies (surprising at this late stage of Romney's career at all, let alone in a sketchbook so predominantly given over to Shakespearean subject matter). One portrait is for a whole-length posed under a tree in a fancy hat (p. 22v) and the others are for a half-length (pp. 29, 30, 32). Neither sitter has been identified but both are strongly reminiscent of late-80s types.
On page 32v alongside the memoranda Mr Hodges Chancery Lane corner of Cony Street (judging from the address, not the artist William Hodges, although he and Romney were shortly to collaborate on the painting Jaques and the Stag for Boydell) and Ann Mullett (probably the name of a model) Romney wrote the date and time of an appointment: Mr Raikes Thursday 2 0 clock December 14th. 14 December fell on a Thursday in 1786.
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COURTAULD SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 2504.
Provenance: ... Maggs Bros.; Sotheby’s 31 May 1932 (28); bought by Meatyard; from whom bought by Robert Witt; by whom given in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of graphite and ink drawings on cream laid paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cm; 26 pages, 23 of which numbered 1-23 on the rectos; the pages before 1, 8 and 14 unnumbered; many pages removed; watermark with crown over shield and GR monogram; calfskin (or pigskin) binding.
The front cover of this sketchbook bears the inscription, scratched by Romney into the animal skin,
Howard 90. The book is not physically similar to Abbot Hall No.2, and looks as if it was taken up later in the year. There is a list at one end of clothes Romney was intending to take to, or buy in, France, and another dated 'Eartham August 30th 90' made on his return. At the other end of the sketchbook on the first page he wrote Adele and Theodore (the title of Mme de Genlis’s ‘Letters on Education’) and Conte D'Angevilliers (the name of the French minister of Fine Arts), followed by a list of clients (including the Archbishop of Dublin, Lady Warwick and Mrs Beckford, all of whom had commissions in some way outstanding in the second half of 1790 and later). The sketches of a mother and child which follow on from this list have been identified as studies for the portrait of Lady Warwick and her children. This seems incorrect, because by 1790 the many sittings for this work had all taken place. After a sequence of further unidentifiable figure studies, drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison begin on page 8v. Romney's idea at this point appears to have been an allegorical one on the lines of the prisoners paying homage to Howard as a presiding deity of liberty; a take on the subject which might well have been occasioned by the visit to France and unlike the more pessimistic view he later adopted.
The only other recognizable subject in the book (p. 21) is of five boys on a beach. While it anticipates the painting Boys Dancing on a Seashore, the drawing looks more like a 'sequel' to Boys in a Boat Drifting Out to Sea - as though the boys in that painting, having made land, are celebrating their escape to freedom.
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Location: Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Inventory No. D.1952 RW 2504.
Provenance: ... Maggs Bros.; Sotheby’s 31 May 1932 (28); bought by Meatyard; from whom bought by Robert Witt; by whom given in 1952 to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of graphite and ink drawings on cream laid paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cm; 26 pages, 23 of which numbered 1-23 on the rectos; the pages before 1, 8 and 14 unnumbered; many pages removed; watermark with crown over shield and GR monogram; calfskin (or pigskin) binding.
The front cover of this sketchbook bears the inscription, scratched by Romney into the animal skin,
Howard 90. The book is not physically similar to Abbot Hall No.2, and looks as if it was taken up later in the year. There is a list at one end of clothes Romney was intending to take to, or buy in, France, and another dated 'Eartham August 30th 90' made on his return. At the other end of the sketchbook on the first page he wrote Adele and Theodore (the title of Mme de Genlis’s ‘Letters on Education’) and Conte D'Angevilliers (the name of the French minister of Fine Arts), followed by a list of clients (including the Archbishop of Dublin, Lady Warwick and Mrs Beckford, all of whom had commissions in some way outstanding in the second half of 1790 and later). The sketches of a mother and child which follow on from this list have been identified as studies for the portrait of Lady Warwick and her children. This seems incorrect, because by 1790 the many sittings for this work had all taken place. After a sequence of further unidentifiable figure studies, drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison begin on page 8v. Romney's idea at this point appears to have been an allegorical one on the lines of the prisoners paying homage to Howard as a presiding deity of liberty; a take on the subject which might well have been occasioned by the visit to France and unlike the more pessimistic view he later adopted.
The only other recognizable subject in the book (p. 21) is of five boys on a beach. While it anticipates the painting Boys Dancing on a Seashore, the drawing looks more like a 'sequel' to Boys in a Boat Drifting Out to Sea - as though the boys in that painting, having made land, are celebrating their escape to freedom.
AK
FITZWILLIAM SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Inventory No. PD 404-1995.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; a later owner has inscribed the information that the book was in the sale on the inside front cover); ... Sir John and Lady Witt; Sotheby’s 19 February 1987 (91); private collection; Sotheby’s 10 July 1995 (124); bought by Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox; from whom acquired by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings on laid paper; 9 x 16 cm; 58 pages; a few removed; leather
binding; Britannia watermark.
This is one of a cluster of four sketchbooks (the others being the Victoria & Albert, Liverpool and Louvre No.5 sketchbooks) which Romney used directly after his return from Italy. It was probably started before the Liverpool and Louvre sketchbooks, since it contains at least one study for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, the first major portrait he undertook on his return. Studies for that work proliferate in the V & A sketchbook, but are absent from the others.
The sketchbook is dominated by studies for the subject formerly known as The Death of Cordelia, now identified as The Death of Sigismunda, best known in the form of the cartoon at Liverpool. If the argument that Romney began this cartoon in Rome stands up, then these sketches (and those in the Liverpool sketchbook) may represent Romney planning to turn the cartoon into a painting. There are further drawings in this sketchbook which relate to the subjects of the Liverpool cartoons: a small group on pages 12-13 depicting two children clinging to their mother is a variant of Medea Contemplating the Murder of her Sons, and on pages 4- 5 there are studies for the right hand figure in Nature Unveiling Herself to the Infant Shakespeare.
The sketchbook also contains studies for the head of a helmeted man in profile - probably intended for Macbeth - who also appears in the Liverpool sketchbook, and further studies for portraits which, Elizabeth Warren apart, remain unidentified.
AK
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Inventory No. PD 404-1995.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; a later owner has inscribed the information that the book was in the sale on the inside front cover); ... Sir John and Lady Witt; Sotheby’s 19 February 1987 (91); private collection; Sotheby’s 10 July 1995 (124); bought by Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox; from whom acquired by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings on laid paper; 9 x 16 cm; 58 pages; a few removed; leather
binding; Britannia watermark.
This is one of a cluster of four sketchbooks (the others being the Victoria & Albert, Liverpool and Louvre No.5 sketchbooks) which Romney used directly after his return from Italy. It was probably started before the Liverpool and Louvre sketchbooks, since it contains at least one study for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, the first major portrait he undertook on his return. Studies for that work proliferate in the V & A sketchbook, but are absent from the others.
The sketchbook is dominated by studies for the subject formerly known as The Death of Cordelia, now identified as The Death of Sigismunda, best known in the form of the cartoon at Liverpool. If the argument that Romney began this cartoon in Rome stands up, then these sketches (and those in the Liverpool sketchbook) may represent Romney planning to turn the cartoon into a painting. There are further drawings in this sketchbook which relate to the subjects of the Liverpool cartoons: a small group on pages 12-13 depicting two children clinging to their mother is a variant of Medea Contemplating the Murder of her Sons, and on pages 4- 5 there are studies for the right hand figure in Nature Unveiling Herself to the Infant Shakespeare.
The sketchbook also contains studies for the head of a helmeted man in profile - probably intended for Macbeth - who also appears in the Liverpool sketchbook, and further studies for portraits which, Elizabeth Warren apart, remain unidentified.
AK
FITZWILLIAM SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Inventory No. 3688ROMNEY.
Provenance: ... James Tregaskis; by whom presented in 1906 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 42 pages; numerous pages removed; board binding. Photographed.
This is one of a group of sketchbooks dating from the second half of 1792 in which Romney continued his exploration of the John Howard Visiting a Prison theme and embarked on the study of a number of subjects from Milton. On the front cover of the present sketchbook Romney wrote August 92 Milton Flood. Two other sketchbooks are recorded from this same month: one was with Anthony Mould in 2000 and one was formerly owned by Kenneth Garlick and sold at Sotheby's in the 1960s.
This sketchbook lacks Romney's customary scattergun energy. Half the pages (from 21 to 40) are unused and the existing drawings are on the rectos only, suggesting Romney intended a more formal and considered approach than normal. John Howard subjects are on pages 4, 15, 16, 41 and 42. The Flood from Paradise Lost is studied on pages 3, 5 and 7-10, with other Milton subjects occurring later. There are also two drawings of the ground plan of a house, and one drawing of a family with their horse.
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Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Inventory No. 3688ROMNEY.
Provenance: ... James Tregaskis; by whom presented in 1906 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite on laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 42 pages; numerous pages removed; board binding. Photographed.
This is one of a group of sketchbooks dating from the second half of 1792 in which Romney continued his exploration of the John Howard Visiting a Prison theme and embarked on the study of a number of subjects from Milton. On the front cover of the present sketchbook Romney wrote August 92 Milton Flood. Two other sketchbooks are recorded from this same month: one was with Anthony Mould in 2000 and one was formerly owned by Kenneth Garlick and sold at Sotheby's in the 1960s.
This sketchbook lacks Romney's customary scattergun energy. Half the pages (from 21 to 40) are unused and the existing drawings are on the rectos only, suggesting Romney intended a more formal and considered approach than normal. John Howard subjects are on pages 4, 15, 16, 41 and 42. The Flood from Paradise Lost is studied on pages 3, 5 and 7-10, with other Milton subjects occurring later. There are also two drawings of the ground plan of a house, and one drawing of a family with their horse.
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FITZWILLIAM SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books. No inventory number [Romney Mss. 14: ‘Sketchbook Containing Notes on Painting’].
Provenance: (? By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 38); bought by) C. Fairfax Murray; by whom given in 1917 to the present owner.
Description: chiefly manuscript, but some pages of ink drawings on laid paper; 20 x 15.5 cm; 140 pages; watermark of lion and staff with VRYHEIT underneath; calfskin binding.
This volume qualifies for inclusion here by virtue of the sequence of figure sketches between pages 121v and 140. Typically there are several to each page, in a way reminiscent of the Kendal sketchbook. On p. 129 there is a study for a portrait of a mother and child. From the date of the sketchbook, this may be an idea for Mrs Carwardine and Child or the Mrs Wilson and her Daughter at the Yale Center for British Art.
As the manuscript component makes clear, this book was used during Romney's trip to Italy, 1773-75. Some of the contents are similar to, and occasionally duplicate, Yale No.7. Pages 1-24v, 35 and 140v contain jottings about things in Italy which struck him, ideas for pictures, recipes for painting, drafts for receipts and introductions to people, a list of items left in Rome with George Carter, a list of the paintings at Bologna mentioned by Sir Joshua Reynolds, etc. The book is of exceptional interest as a source for Romney's ideas during one of the key formative periods of his life.
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Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books. No inventory number [Romney Mss. 14: ‘Sketchbook Containing Notes on Painting’].
Provenance: (? By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 38); bought by) C. Fairfax Murray; by whom given in 1917 to the present owner.
Description: chiefly manuscript, but some pages of ink drawings on laid paper; 20 x 15.5 cm; 140 pages; watermark of lion and staff with VRYHEIT underneath; calfskin binding.
This volume qualifies for inclusion here by virtue of the sequence of figure sketches between pages 121v and 140. Typically there are several to each page, in a way reminiscent of the Kendal sketchbook. On p. 129 there is a study for a portrait of a mother and child. From the date of the sketchbook, this may be an idea for Mrs Carwardine and Child or the Mrs Wilson and her Daughter at the Yale Center for British Art.
As the manuscript component makes clear, this book was used during Romney's trip to Italy, 1773-75. Some of the contents are similar to, and occasionally duplicate, Yale No.7. Pages 1-24v, 35 and 140v contain jottings about things in Italy which struck him, ideas for pictures, recipes for painting, drafts for receipts and introductions to people, a list of items left in Rome with George Carter, a list of the paintings at Bologna mentioned by Sir Joshua Reynolds, etc. The book is of exceptional interest as a source for Romney's ideas during one of the key formative periods of his life.
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FITZWILLIAM SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books.
Inventory No. FM2425*
Provenance: ... L. G. H. and A. J. H. Smith; by whom given in October 1940 through the National Art-Collections Fund to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of sketches (chiefly in graphite) and manuscript; 14 x 23.5 cm; 18 pages; some pages removed; board binding.
This is a very slight sketchbook, whose contents are chiefly house plans. They may reflect Romney’s ideas of acquiring a new property outside London and if so must date from the mid- to late-1790s. One double spread contains a draft letter (to Hayley) beginning with the words: "I have not much to say at present", overdrawn with the figure of an extended male nude.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c59.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Maggs Bros., London; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1918.
Description: Graphite and brown ink and wash on paper; 15.5 x 19.5 cm; 66 numbered leaves, most with drawings on the recto; three leaves with drawings on the verso; four leaves blank; a page not included in the numbering has been removed between pages 60 and 61; watermark of Britannia holding an olive branch and spear; paper and leather binding; taken apart for conservation in 1998 and subsequently rebound.
The only written material in the artist's hand in this sketchbook is the words Macbeth/Midsummer's Dream/McBeth upside down on the back cover, written in brown ink. Two subjects from Macbeth are dealt with in this sketchbook: the Banquet Scene and the Cavern Scene. There are numerous drawings of the Banquet Scene (12-15; 17-18; 49-53, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65 [bottom]). These illustrate the lines, "Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!/Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold./Thou has no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with!" (Act 3, sc. 4, 93-96). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stand to the left; the guests are seated at a table to the right; the ghost of Banquo hovers over the table behind. One of the most powerful drawings in the series (12) depicts the figure of Macbeth alone.
Drawings for the Cavern Scene from Macbeth are nearly as numerous (24-26, 34, 37-38, 44, 46 46v, 47, 55-56, 62, 62v and possibly 48). These depict Macbeth's second encounter with the witches (Act IV, Sc. 1). The basic composition devised by the artist, which compresses the action of the play, includes Macbeth at the left with witches standing and kneeling in the center and dancing about a cauldron to the right.
No single drawing contains the entire composition; rather Romney concentrates on discrete elements: Macbeth; individual witches; the witches dancing about the cauldron. Symptomatic of Romney's restless, wandering creativity is a drawing of dancing witches (44), which is immediately followed by a drawing of dancing fairies (45) on an entirely different subject, taken from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Altogether there are fourteen drawings in the sketchbook on A Midsummer Night's Dream (20-23, 27-28, 30-33, 36, 42, 45, 58). Romney's subject is from the beginning of Act II, Sc. 2, where Titania commands her fairies to sing her a lullaby: "Come, now a roundel and a fairy song; /Then, for the third part of a minute, hence-/Some to kill cankers in the musk- rose buds,/Some war with reremice for their leathern wings,/To make my small elves coats, and some keep back/The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots' and wonders/At our quaint spirits. Sing me now asleep. /Then to your offices, and let me rest." Various elements of the scene are treated: the reclining Titania; dancing fairies; and fairies chasing bats. In some of the drawings the action takes place in a landscape in front of a large tree. One additional slight landscape sketch (54) may also relate to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Non-Shakespearean subjects also appear in this sketchbook. There are fourteen drawings on the theme of John Howard's prison visits (1 v, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, 19, 16 [top], and 66). The composition devised on the theme in this particular sketchbook can be described as follows: Howard and the gaoler enter the prison cell from the left rear. The group of prisoners in the dark cell includes a seated figure at the left; a nude male lying face up in the center; and, to the right, a woman reclining on a bench accompanied by two small children (for a similar grouping of some of these prisoners see Patricia Jaffe: Drawings by George Romney from the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge,
exhibition catalogue, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (1977) cat. 97, pl. 43). There was constant evolution in Romney's development of his basic Howard composition, and various sketchbooks and large-scale drawings show different groupings of figures. In some drawings Howard and the gaoler are prominent; in others the artist concentrates on the prisoners.
A running figure depicting Cassandra Raving is seen in two drawings, one of which splits the page with a portrait study of a seated woman in contemporary dress (no. 40; two studies of the same seated woman are seen in no. 39). Romney regularly complained about being ‘shackled’ to the drudgery of portrait painting, and the juxtaposition of a study for a subject picture next to a portrait study is indicative of his mind's escape from his ‘work’ to works of the imagination. At the same time, this particular juxtaposition is apt. Emma Hart returned to London in late May of 1791 and once again sat for Romney prior to her September 6th marriage to Sir William Hamilton. Just as Emma provided inspiration for Romney in his Cassandra studies, so here the seated woman in the portrait study may likewise represent Emma. Romney's portrait of Emma as The Ambassadress, in which she is seated, dates from 1791, while this sketchbook was in use.
In this sketchbook, Romney's creative concentration shifts rapidly from one subject to another. He begins with a series of ten drawings on the Prison theme, then produces six on the Banquet Scene from Macbeth. He then inserts one Prison drawing before moving on to a series of four drawings on A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next follow three drawings on the Cavern Scene from Macbeth. Thereafter the artist shifts rapidly from one theme to the other, sometimes producing only one drawing on a theme before switching to another subject, and never doing more than three or four drawings in succession on the same theme.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c60.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... C. Fairfax Murray; Maggs Bros., London, Cat. 368, No. 1318; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1918.
Description: Graphite on paper; 15.5 x 20 cm; 61 drawings on 107 numbered pages (numbering begins on the inside front cover, with the first page being numbered 2, and following rectos consecutively to 107; versos are not numbered, nor is the inside back cover); watermark of Britannia holding an olive branch and spear; sheepskin binding.
The sketchbook contains sixty-one drawings, plus written material, which includes the draft of a letter from Romney to Emma Hart. The letter can be dated to the summer of 1786, after Emma's departure for Naples. In the letter, Romney alludes to his having sent to Naples ‘your picture in black’, i.e. Lady Hamilton in Morning Dress, which Emma wrote Charles Greville on July 22, 1786, that she had requested Romney to send. Allusions in Romney's letter to certain current events (e.g. ‘the Prince of Wales giving up his Household to pay his debts and the attempt to assassinate the King by a Mad Woman’) further serve to date the letter. The sketchbook dates from 1786-87, a period when Romney was exploring initial ideas for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery.
Among the Shakespearean subjects which Romney contemplated painting for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery are Act 1 of The Tempest, and the Banquet Scene from Macbeth, drawings for both of which are found in this volume. There are also sketches which may possibly relate to The Infant Shakespeare attended by Nature and the Passions (101v, 102v, 103v).
One drawing in the sketchbook (no. 92v), is important because it relates to the artist's first idea for the composition of The Tempest for the Boydell Gallery, in which three figures, Prospero, Miranda and Caliban look out to sea, with a slight suggestion of the shipwreck in the distance. In the present drawing the figure of Caliban cannot be discerned, but Prospero and Miranda are depicted on a small scale in a stormy landscape. Romney was to alter this first idea to combine a close-up view of the shipwreck as well as Prospero and Miranda. ‘By this alteration’, John Romney writes, ‘he endeavoured to unite two principal actions, which were essentially distinct, though referring to one another – an anomaly in composition ...’. Additional Tempest sketches in the volume include 92, 94, and possibly 91 and 97.
Drawings for the Banquet Scene from Macbeth depict the action as it might have been seen on the contemporary stage, with the ghost of Banquo standing firmly on the ground, a full participant in the drama. On the other hand, drawings in Folger No.1, done some four or five years later, show the ghost hovering in the air above and behind the banquet table.
Other subjects include a youth seizing a maiden (83, 83v, 84, 84v, 85, 85v, 86v, 87, 87v, 88v, 89v, 90v), a reclining female and a male holding a staff (94v, 95v, 96v), and conjuring scenes, some of which bear comparison to drawings in Princeton No.3 and the Houston sketchbook. The volume also contains a number of figure drawings, some of them portrait studies.
Written material in the sketchbook, in addition to the draft of the letter to Emma Hart, includes a list of clothing, and, inside the back cover the following: ‘Picart's Religious Ceremonys/Universal Dictionary’. The former must refer to Bernard Picart's Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des Peuples Idolatres Representees par des Figures dessines de la Main de Bernard Picart, Amsterdam, 1723. This book contains, among a wealth of material, information on the religious rites and superstitions of the Laplanders. Romney depicted Lapland witches in a number of drawings and, though he did not himself read French, he may perhaps have obtained, with William Hayley's help, information regarding Lapland customs and beliefs from Picart's book.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c61.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Shepperson & Reynolds, London; Maggs Bros., London, Cat. 449, No. 368; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1924.
Description: Ink and wash on cream laid paper; 9.5 x 16 cm; 74 pages, numbered 1-74; inside back cover numbered 75; before numbering, five leaves were removed between pages 67 and 68;
watermark of seated Britannia; sheepskin binding; unbound for conservation in 1998 and rebound in the original binding.
The sketchbook is notable for its concentration on a few themes, specifically John Howard visiting a Prison and Titania and her fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream. In dealing with these subjects, Romney initially runs a rapid-fire series of drawings on one theme and then moves in staccato fashion back and forth from one theme to the other.
Twenty-two drawings deal with the theme of John Howard visiting a Prison (1-8; 11-18; 24; 57-59; 64v, 65). Despite the small size of the page, in some instances two studies of the group of prisoners appear on the same page. In some of the drawings Howard and the gaoler can be discerned at the left, while notable among the prisoners is a man supporting a slumping female figure to the left of center. This is in contrast to prison scenes in Folger no. 1, in which a male figure stretched out on his back dominates the central space in many of the drawings. Each of these Folger sketchbooks repeats certain elements of the prison composition which are absent from groupings in the other sketchbook, showing how the subject evolved as the artist worked out compositional variants. Some of the drawings here are composed of the scantiest of scribbled lines, while others employ a strong ink line and dark areas of wash.
Thirty-eight drawings depict Titania and her fairies from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 [right], 41, 43, 44, 45, 46,47, 48, 48v, 49, 50, 50v, 51, 52, 52v, 53, 54, 54v 55, 56, 60, 61, 61 v). (Romney inscribed Queen Mab on the front cover of the sketchbook, and although today Mab is familiar as the witch described in the play Romeo and Juliet, the artist no doubt meant Titania – the Queen of the Fairies.) The pose of Titania in some of the drawings is the same as that in drawings in Folger No.1: a recumbent figure, elbows bent, her arms beside her face. In some instances Titania faces the viewer; in others, she turns her back. Attendant fairies are also present. However, a new pose for Titania is also introduced in this sketchbook, one in which she sits with knees bent, directly facing the viewer, fairy attendants on both sides.
The sketchbook also shows how Romney fused literary subjects with ideas for portraits. A number of drawings (27, 27v, 28, 34, 34v, 35, 38, 42, and 49) show a seated woman in contemporary dress and bonnet juxtaposed with fairies chasing bats and, in one instance (38), with Titania herself. These drawings provide an early indication of Romney's intent to use A Midsummer Night's Dream as a vehicle for portraiture. He would eventually do so in a portrait commissioned in 1795 by George, 3rd Earl of Egremont. The painting depicts four of the Earl's natural children with their mother, Elizabeth Iliff. In the painting, the mother reclines in a landscape with her back to the viewer; two of her children hold bows as one of them shoots at a bat. That A Midsummer Night's Dream was in Romney's mind as he worked on the painting is reflected in his letter to Hayley of October 6, 1795, ‘I long to hear of Eartham and Petworth, of my elves and fairies’.
Other drawings in the sketchbook include two of a woman rushing forward, arms outspread (9, 10), which may related to Joan of Arc, Lady Macbeth, or possibly a witch from Macbeth; and three studies of a woman's profile along with a composition showing a seated woman (20), no doubt portrait studies. There are also notes for a discourse on painting, written in Romney's hand (72v-74) (transcribed in Yvonne Romney Dixon: 'Designs From Fancy': George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D. C. (1998) pp. 232-233).
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. d127.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3, part); bought by Abbott and Holder, London [George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook A’]; from whom bought by the present owner.
Description: Pencil on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 46 pages unnumbered; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The cover of this slim volume, from which some sheets may have been lost or removed, is inscribed and dated NI / May 1792. The inside back cover is inscribed Old Brompton Road / past the [illegible] / turning to the / right at [?] Mrs / Knights / Down [?] lane.
The binding is identical to the two other sketchbooks that appeared at Bonham’s in July 2015 (lot 3) (see Appendix A) and also identical to Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.3 (inscribed August 1793). Although slightly different in size and format, it is also very close to British Museum Sketchbook No.2 (inscribed July 1792). Perhaps bought from the same stationer, these are all lightweight and easily carried, or indeed packed for summers at Eartham, when it is likely each was used, at least in part.
The drawings in the sketchbook are stylistically typical of the date, and given the subjects, there is no reason to doubt that Romney started to fill it in May 1792, presumably with the Macbeth drawings. However, as is often the case, the arrangement of the works suggests the book was used intermittently. Each ‘run’ of drawings may well have been put down in one sitting, but each subject quite possibly months apart.
Of the twenty-seven sides of drawings, six have studies for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth and eighteen for Paradise Lost. The Milton drawings include twelve for Ithuriel and Zephon finding Satan at the ear of Eve (Book IV) and eight for The Expulsion (Book XI). The two Milton episodes are at times worked on to the same pages, giving greater credence, visually at least, to the idea that they were being conceived in tandem, as a series of paintings (John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p. 223 and William Hayley: The Life of George Romney Esq. (1809), p. 212). The Macbeth drawings take up the composition at the later stages of its development, when Romney seems to have largely decided the arrangement of figures and is concentrating on subtleties of gesture, particularly in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Although there is one particularly fine, dramatic sketch of the entire composition.
There is a one drawing of a crouching female figure from an unidentified subject, and a drawing of a woman in contemporary dress, which has the feel of a sketch from life. There is also a small group of architectural plans, presumably ideas for Romney’s house/studio/gallery, the inclusion of which is typical of sketchbooks of this date, although they might well have been added much later.
Finally, but perhaps most significantly, there is a drawing inscribed The Effects of Envy and pride / for want of Faith / (for opposing factions / and thinking for yourself). This is a sketch of what is evidently, by this stage, a fully developed composition. Until now an entirely unknown subject, a great many previously unidentifiable drawings are clearly related to it, including a group that appear in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.3, which is inscribed to the cover … Prid [sic] and Fanaticism… Many of the main figural groups seem to derive in one way or another from Romney’s drawings for Milton, so it would seem the work relates to, or derives somehow from that project. But the composition is clearly a more ambitious, moral narrative or commentary that, given the number of related drawings, became a major preoccupation. It might well prove a valuable insight into Romney’s thoughts and beliefs at a time when there has been much speculation about his mental state.
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GETTY SKETCHBOOK
Location: Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Inventory No. 860577
Provenance: …Kenneth A. Lohf; from whom acquired in 1986 by the present owner.
Description: Pencil, pen, ink and wash on cream laid paper; 9.5 x 16 cm; 73 pages unnumbered; sheepskin binding with gold tooling and metal clasp.
This sketchbook is identical to Folger Sketchbook No.3, and bears the same label for the stationers Shepperson & Reynolds inside the cover. It is inscribed Milton on the outside, although the ink has faded, or perhaps come away from the sheepskin. Romney has used the book consistently, and in its entirety, from the ‘wrong’ end, and the cover, where Milton is inscribed, has become the back.
The sketchbook is extensively inscribed. The inside front has notes of dimensions, and, under what seems to be a list of wine and port costs/quantities, a date of October 22 1791. This is not a ‘start’, or purchase date for the sketchbook, and more likely relates to the notes above. However, it is entirely appropriate and roughly in keeping with the sketchbook drawings, and with the inscription on p.1 which reads Large Milton Newton[s?], which refers to the series of portraits of great English men of science and the arts that Romney was planning at this date.
Other inscriptions include a List of Books on the verso of p. 2 which is very hard to read (although it is not in Romney’s own hand); and on p. 72, Mr Huskison / at Mr Windsor’s / N1 St Thomas’s Street / Borough. The inside back cover has numerous seemingly unrelated, mostly faint and illegible, jottings, including an address N22 Waymouth [sic] Street, and the book title Townsend Travels into Spain (published 1791). There is also, fascinatingly, what appears to be a plan for a week spent at Eartham – Choses [sic] / Sunday from Earth[am] / Monday to Eartham - / Tuesday to Sea and back - / Wednesday no - / Thursday to sea and back / Friday – to sea. The shopping, or more likely packing list of clothing on p.73 may relate to the same trip and it is tantalising to think the sketchbook was taken to Eartham in the summer of 1791 or 1792.
The first drawing in the sketchbook is an ink study for Milton and His Daughters after which follow studies for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth, in ink and in pencil. They were evidently drawn early in the working of the composition with the major arrangement of the figures still undecided. They give a fine sense of what Romney obviously felt was the fertile nature of the subject, and indeed his own powers of composition at the level of the rapid sketch.
There are a few drawings for John Howard visiting a Prison in the sketchbook, two for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a couple of costume studies in ink which may be for Lady Macbeth, and a handful of architectural plans and elevations which are presumably fantasies of what would become the Hampstead house and studio. The sketchbook is dominated, however, by a prolonged sequence of drawings for Paradise Lost, with drawings for Satan Rallying his Host, The Fall of the Rebel Angels, and scenes with Adam and Eve.
The combination of subjects and their arrangement – Romney working each intensely, before … it disappears, perhaps to re-appear some pages later – is entirely in keeping with other sketchbooks of early 1790s. However, it is possible Romney put the sketchbook aside after filling the initial pages, taking it up later for a concentrated Milton sitting, only then inscribing the outside.
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HOLBORN LIBRARY SKETCHBOOK
Location: Camden Libraries, Holborn branch, Theobald's Rd, London WC1.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the characteristic sale label has been partially torn away); ... Hampstead Library; transferred in 1965 to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of ink and graphite drawings on cream paper; 21 x 16.5 cm; 68 pages, unnumbered; two watermarks, one with a GR monogram and crown, one a figure standing on a plinth within a circular border; calfskin binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art.
This sketchbook was in use about 1770-71. Many of the subjects are unidentified, and their range is wide, but they overlap to only a limited degree with the contents of other sketchbooks from this period. Consequently this volume is a rich single source of information about the themes that were pre-occupying Romney at this time.
The most extensively studied subject involves two adult figures deliberating over a child, as it might be The Judgment of Solomon or The Finding of Moses. Another involves a fainting female figure being supported by two acolytes at the sight of a corpse at her feet while a further male figure steals away in the background. A third could potentially be a first brush with the subject of Fortune Telling. In each of these cases, there are sketches on nearby pages which look as if they could be for details of these compositions or variants of them. A further subject, in which a female kneels at the centre of a group of standing men, may well be The Accusation of Susannah, which certainly occurs in other sketchbooks of this period and which provides evidence that subjects which Romney is recorded as tackling in the years after his return from Italy were in fact adumbrated before his departure.
Three subjects in the sketchbook are certainly identifiable. One is the Mother and Child exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771. A second is Bathsheba at the Bath and a third Samson and Delilah. All of these, however, make a fleeting appearance. The number of pages devoted to them is much fewer than with the uncertain subjects referred to above.
There are a few studies for portraits in the sketchbook. One small group, twice identified in a later hand Duchess of Marlborough, is for the full-length of Mrs. Morewood. A second full-length female figure is less easily identifiable but could possibly be for Miss Joan Knatchbull. On one page there are three scrappy studies for an unidentified head and shoulders portrait of a young man resting on a book, in a pre-figurement of the treatment of Mrs Benedetta Day; and at the end of the sketchbook are two studies for an oval portrait of a mother and child in the pose of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia, which Romney used for his portrait of Mrs. Carwardine and her eldest son. That work is usually stated to be the first portrait Romney painted after he returned from Italy, but here may be evidence that it was actually commissioned, and started, before he left.
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HOUSTON SKETCHBOOK
Location: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, The Rienzi Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III in honor of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Brown, 1978. Inventory No. 78.187.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... J. P. Heseltine; ... Lord Nathan of Churt; Sotheby’s 14 November 1962 (50); bought by Sabin; from whom bought by Harris Masterson III; by whom presented in 1978 to the present owner.
Description: Ink, wash, black chalk and graphite on paper; 11.5 x 19 cm; 57 pages; a total of 59 drawings; calfskin binding.
This sketchbook is inscribed on the front cover Septr 83. As Patricia Jaffé pointed out (Drawings by George Romney from the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, exhibition catalogue, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (1977), p. 38), it contains a number of drawings related to the Infancy of Jupiter theme, depicting the child, the nanny goat that fed him, and women attendants. Relevant sheets are 3v, 4, 5, 6, 14, 21, 22, 23, 34, 45, 46, 51, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57v, and 58. Particularly appealing and expressive of Romney's verve as a draftsman is the first of these drawings (3v) of the rearing goat. The fluidity of Romney's approach to subjects is evident in the allusions to various subjects within these drawings. For example, nos. 45 and 46 might relate as easily to the ‘goat tipping over the milkmaids' pail’ (see John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p.147) as to the Infancy of Jupiter theme; a further drawing (37) depicting a kneeling girl, accompanied by animals, casting her eyes towards an object on the ground surely represents that subject. Studies of the child and his attendants evolved into Romney's designs for The Infancy of Shakespeare, and later drawings in the Houston series (55, 56v, 57, 57v, and 58), without the goat, edge more towards the Shakespeare, than the Jupiter configuration.
The fact that the goat subject occurs at three separate points within the sketchbook, with several drawings in succession on each occasion, may suggest that the sketchbook was filled up with drawings over a short period of time. This is interesting because there are connections with subjects associated with later periods in Romney’s career. For example, the figures to the left in no. 29 are close to representations of Canidia and the Youth, a subject the artist was concerned with around 1789-91. A conjuring scene (31) forecasts elements of Bolingbroke and the Fiend, a subject Romney worked on in the latter 1780s, intending it for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. The forceful male to the right of the cauldron may be an early idea for the figure of Bolingbroke. Witches in two other drawings (33, 36) forecast drawings of the early 1790s of witches on the heath from Macbeth (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: 'Designs From Fancy': George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C.(1998) pl. 44). Romney was drawn to scenes of witchcraft throughout his career, and elements of various different scenes of witchcraft often overlap, as here.
The Houston sketchbook reflects the range of subjects found in many of Romney's sketchbooks: landscapes, figure studies, studies of expression, as well as ideas for subject pictures which captured his imagination but which rarely resulted in finished paintings.
One of the as yet unidentified compositions (8) depicts three adults leaning over a rectangular monument; two nude infants stand beside them; in the middle ground are a building to the left and a group of figures to the right; in the distance a landscape opens up. Variants of the composition are nos. 25 and 26. Other intriguing, unknown subjects include figures sitting on a rock in a wide landscape (27); and figures on horseback, apparently crossing a river, with trees to the left and mountains behind (44).
Amongst figure studies are two drawings with women (10, 11), in which the poses are particularly graceful, and one forceful drawing with two studies of a standing male nude (12). Others include dancing and lunging figures (47); a man carrying a sword and shield, with an unrelated standing woman (49); and a woman reclining on the ground (52). The most powerful drawing in this sketchbook, and one of the most appealing in any of Romney's sketchbooks, is the dynamic man on horseback in no. 50.
A drawing of cavorting infants (48) illustrates Romney's interest in young children, suggesting other such subjects as Boys on the Seashore and the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here one babe at the left lies on its back, one leg in the air; another at the right holds streamers in his upraised arms.
Studies of expression include a hook-nosed, bearded old man in profile (9). Mouth open and teeth exposed, he evokes later depictions of satyrs. Two additional formulaic studies of expression occur in no. 13. The sketchbook has pure landscapes (20, 24, 28 and 53) as well as compositions with landscape backgrounds (7, 8 25, 26, 27, 44).
A drawing of three horsemen (17) as well as other drawings in the sketchbook have parallels in Princeton No. 1. The Houston sketchbook is unusual among sketchbooks surviving from the rnid-1780s in that most of its drawings are in ink and ink and wash instead of graphite. Many are bold and assured, and some extraordinarily forceful. Premier among these is the powerful man on horseback (50), alluded to above.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 65.3.
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the sketchbook bears the characteristic blue- edged sale label but the number has been obliterated); ... Jeremy Maas; from whom bought in 1965 by the present owner.
Description: Ink, ink and wash and graphite sketches on paper; 23.5 x 18.5 cm; 75 pages, numbered 1-150 (the front and back endpapers are also numbered 0 and 151 respectively); watermark of the initials GR under a horn under a crest; vellum and board binding. Partially photographed.
This sketchbook stands apart from the others in this catalogue. The drawings in it are not studies for paintings, nor are they exercises in technique. Instead they are the expression of the deepest recesses of Romney's mind: his desires and hatreds, fears and anxieties. For the view it offers into the artist's psyche, it is the most important surviving sketchbook. It seems probable that Romney regarded it in a special light, using it for drawings that bore no connection with his public works.
The volume was the last item in the 2002 Romney exhibition. On the front endpaper of the sketchbook there is a note in Romney's hand referring to a sermon preached in 1796, proving that he was using it after that date, and a number of the drawings clearly are those of an enfeebled and disturbed old man. Nevertheless, the suggestion belatedly made in the catalogue entry that Romney could have begun using the sketchbook as a young man seems preferable to the view that the contents are exclusively from the later 1790s. The largest group of sketches in it are savage and melancholic caricatures, presumably of people known to Romney. They are carried out in ink, in a laboured and mechanical style employing cross- hatching, which is about as far away from his standard dense tonal pencil drawing of the mid 1790s as it would be possible to get, but much closer in feel to certain ink drawings on Shakespearean themes ascribed to the 1760s. These caricatures tie in with Adam Walker's description of Romney's life in Kendal shortly before he left for London in 1762: ‘feeling with indignant pride his genius and fancy cramped by the cares of a family, in a country incapable of appreciating or rewarding the powers he felt within himself, he grew peevish and painted Satyr and Caricature of those who might have encouraged him ...’.
The remaining contents of the sketchbook are diverse in subject matter and style. They include a number of mathematical formulae transcribed for the artist whose significance remains uncertain but may be related to Romney's aspirations as an architect. (There are also a number of sketches of imaginary buildings.) Scattered through the book (e.g. on pp. 39, 59, 125) there are ethereal studies in grey wash of landscapes recalling the Lake District; the one on page 39 shows a girl pining under a tree and may reflect his lifelong guilt at abandoning his wife. Perhaps connected with these feelings are two sinister drawings (pp. 33, 109), which recall Fuseli's Nightmare, of a huge incubus nibbling at the breast of a corpse. Perhaps evincing the same feelings of guilt is a grotesque recollection (p. 113) of Emma, and on page 83, pasted in, a grinning head of the actress Miss Wallis as Mirth, whose appearance in this context may re-inforce the idea that Romney was briefly infatuated with her. Two male heads, one young and one old (pp. 29, 81), may tentatively be proposed as self-portraits on the basis of resemblance.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 66.14.
Provenance: ... Christopher Powney; from whom bought in 1966 by the present owner,
Description: Graphite on cream wove paper; 14.5 x 23.5 cm; 26 pages, numbered 1-52; no watermark; board and leather binding. Partially photographed.
Romney's inscription on the front cover, October 1792, No.3 carries the implication that the sketchbook was in use over a brief period (two other sketchbooks were evidently on the go in that month alone). This is borne out by the stylistic homogeneity of the contents: all dense, reductive pencil sketches on a few themes.
The subjects were identified by Pat Jaffé on a visit to the Huntington in 1992, as follows: pages 1-15: The Opening of the Ark (from the description in Book 11 of Milton's Paradise Lost); page 17: Milton Dictating to his Daughters; pages 19-29: The Opening of the Ark; pages 31-35: John Howard Visiting a Prison; page 36: Milton Dictating; page 37: Titania Reclining; page 39: Milton Dictating; page 41: The Banquet Scene from 'Macbeth'; page 42: John Howard Visiting a Prison; page 43: The Banquet Scene from 'Macbeth'; pages 44- 52: John Howard Visiting a Prison. The sketchbook may be said to encapsulate Romney's creative instincts in his later years. He continues to mull over subjects that have been pre-occupying him now for several years (for example Macbeth and John Howard) but his energies are chiefly reserved for a 'new' one (The Opening of the Ark) which must have been suggested to him in the course of studying Milton with Hayley and Cowper at Eartham a few weeks before.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 96.2.
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; that it was in the sale is stated in a manuscript note on the first page of the sketchbook); ... Ken Spelman; from whom bought in 1995 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly graphite drawings, but one group in sepia ink on cream laid paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cm; 48 pages, unnumbered; many pages probably removed; no watermark; binding absent. but fragments of leather remain on the spine.
This sketchbook is not easy to date. The surviving contents, which must be the rump of a once fatter volume, are chiefly sketches for whole-length female portraits; plus a scattering of studies of a male figure holding a horse which are the only ones drawn in ink. None of these have so far been related to an identified painting. On the basis that Romney only occasionally made studies for portraits by around 1785, the sketchbook can be assumed to date from before this.
At the end of the volume various names appear in drafts and notes, but tantalizingly none of them can be tied to identified sitters. There is an appointment at half past eleven for a Mr. Orme, but this name does not occur in the sitter books, and on the last page Romney has recorded the name and address of a similarly elusive Mr. Watson. In a draft letter, ‘Mr Romney with his humble respect takes the liberty to acquaint Lady M … that he is now very well’ and ‘will approve a time for sitting’, but the full name is illegible. The reference to his sickness recalls a related note in the Liverpool sketchbook tentatively dateable to the first half of 1778, and it is perhaps noteworthy that before the first sitting of Lady Monson on 28 March that year there is the first two-day gap in Romney's punishing schedule of sittings for several months. But this may be stretching conjecture too far. Arguably the feel of the sketchbook is somewhat different from the Liverpool one.
Two further annotations, nevertheless, are suggestive. One is a description of various mediums for dead-colouring (a mixture of linseed oil boiled in water with red lead; poppy oil, water and white lead). This, copied out in a hand much less illegible than usual, has some of the hallmarks of the memoranda carefully inscribed in Romney's Italian notebooks and suggests an artist still interested in technical recipes. The other is a note to himself: ‘Remember to buy my own horse’. Although there might be any number of circumstances in which Romney could have made this note, it follows a series of studies for a portrait of a man with his horse, and tends to imply that Romney felt the lack of an equine model: surely more likely to be a feature of his first years in Cavendish Square than later ones.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO. 4
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 2015.15
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 36); bt. Noseda; …Alister Matthews, Poole 1960-1970; from whom bt. by Patricia Jaffé; Christie’s 7 July 2015 (94); bt. by the present owner.
Description: Graphite, ink and wash on cream paper; 13.5 x 19 cm; 132 pages numbered 1-132 in a later hand on the rectos; a few pages removed; fragmentary or indistinct watermark on many pages; sheepskin binding.
This is an unfamiliar sketchbook, apparently undiscussed in the Romney literature, but at 132 pages one of the densest and richest known. Unlike most Romney sketchbooks it has had scarcely any leaves removed (and those that have been, it may be surmised, were removed by Miss Romney’s executors as being too personal for comfort, rather than the victims of a cherry-picking dealer). The volume is also unusual in at least one of the ways it has been used: it divides, apparently by design, into five sections; three of graphite drawings alternating with two long sections of ink ones. Although Romney habitually covered numerous leaves of a sketchbook in one spell of drawing, it is too much to suppose that each of the five sections of this book correspond with one session or even one campaign of a few days; there is no correlation with the subjects studied. This curiously structured usage, taken with the volume’s unusual number of pages, suggests that Romney may have reserved it for special occasions, and that (as with certain other sketchbooks) it was in use over a period of years rather than weeks or months. This is borne out by the cover, where Romney can be seen to have scraped off the last digit of the date he originally inscribed – 1791 – and substituted another one, a 2 or 3. If 1791 is the date of the earliest drawings in the book, others are probably from two or even three years later.
In other respects the volume’s use is more characteristic: there is a scattergun quality in the succession of subjects, their clustering suggestive of Romney’s habitual darting from one to another and his elision of subjects as he found formal continuities between them. Typically, he did not work systematically from front to back but probably opened the book randomly and worked on the first vacant page he found, at different times treating both ends of the book as the front (and inscribing both outer covers). Again characteristically, he held the endpapers and the very first leaves in reserve for notes and memoranda: there are two draft letters to unknown recipients and typical lists of clothes to be taken on a journey. More unusual, indeed unique, is a list of Pictures to be Seen, yielding an unfamiliar glimpse of a Romney visiting the houses of London patrons rather than the recluse in his studio of writers’ cliché.
The words inscribed on the outer covers, Howard on one, Witchcraft on the other, acted as mnemonics for Romney when he wished to revisit the chief contents of the book. Howard refers to the subject that Romney probably studied more intensively for than any other in the 1790s: John Howard Visiting a Lazaretto; for this there are 26 pages of studies, chiefly of prisoners. Witchcraft probably refers to the two scenes from Macbeth, principally the Cavern Scene in which the Scottish king revisits the three witches making incantations and prophesies around their cauldron, for which there are fourteen pages of studies, together with eight further pages that are likely to depict specific motifs within the scene. These are balanced by approximately a dozen studies for the Banquet Scene, in which Macbeth writhes at the sight of the ghost of Banquo.
Interweaving with these studies are many smaller groups of subjects that defy precise identification, a handful of portrait and landscape studies and one further major group, arguably the most fascinating in the book, for the painting Newton Displaying the Prism of 1794. The finished work emerged as a much more prosaic and domesticated conception than that presaged by the twenty pages of dramatic and sublime studies here. These must be early ideas and they are unique, no other drawings surviving in any known sketchbook.
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KENDAL SKETCHBOOK
Location: Kendal Town Hall, Kendal, Cumbria
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie 24- 25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Otto Beit; Alfred Beit; from whom bought for £50 by the Trustees of the Farleton Tithes; by whom presented in 1955 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite, iron gall ink, black and red chalk on paper; 47 x 37 cm; 52 pages, some pages removed; both recto and verso are numbered, 104 numbered pages in all; watermark of J Whatman. The sketchbook was rebound by the Zaehnsdorf firm, founded by Budapest-native Joseph Zaehnsdorf in 1842, in green morocco gilt, now somewhat faded; the back and front are tooled to a geometric design inlaid with red and black morocco, with green watered-silk linings.. Books bound by Zaehnsdorf were well crafted and in high demand by prominent English book collectors; Joseph William Zaehnsdorf (1853-1930), who took over the firm after his father's death, published a detailed "how-to" book on bookbinding techniques (The Art of Bookbinding, London, Bell, 1890).
Page 1
At the top of the page to the left of center, in brown ink, are the names Hodgson (or Hodghson) Bradley, followed at the right, also in brown ink by an address, written twice: ‘No. 4 Inner Temple Lane up 3 pair of stairs.’ The Petworth House Archives (held by the West Sussex Record Office) have receipted bills dating between 1756-1760, which include some from ‘Bradley & Hodgson, carriers, Kendal’ (PHA /6647). Eighteenth-century English bullock drivers were known as ‘carriers’. Bradley and Hodgson might have been engaged by Romney in the early 1760s to transport items for him from Kendal to London or vice versa. In a letter of 30 March 1762, for example, he asked his wife to send paintings to him from Kendal ‘rolled up in a box, by the first waggon…’.
Written along the length of the page, also in brown ink, is another notation, most of which is difficult to decipher: ‘Mr Daves/Gloster Street [unreadable]/of the/Co[?] Joinson Collculla.’ These cryptic words are tantalizing. ‘Colculla’ (spelled with one less ‘l’) is the name of a character in Temora an Ossianic poem published by James Macpherson in 1763. Macpherson had earlier (1760) published Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and in 1762, his most celebrated Ossianic poem, Fingal, was published. Romney, in his quest for historical and literary subjects and with his instinct to strike out in new directions in his subject matter, did illustrate Macpherson’s Ossian poems later, yet drawings on Ossianic subjects do not appear to be present in the Kendal Sketchbook.
Four vivid black chalk studies occupy the middle of this page. The first is a profile of a man's face, from forehead to chin, with a distinctive Roman nose and full lips. Set on top of this, heightened with white chalk, is a nuanced study of a left hand, its third finger gracefully
curved. (For other hand drawings see 27 and 94). A third drawing, easy to overlook because it is so small, is a tiny sphere, carefully outlined and shaded, appearing to the right of the hand study. The source of light is carefully observed, casting a dark pool of shadow below and to the left of this object.
The fourth, most arresting, of these black chalk studies depicts the head of a balding, bearded man, that of the Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (c.279-206 BC). Marble heads of Chrysippus are in the Louvre (MR 529), the British Museum (Payne Knight collection), and the Vatican museums, among other collections. Romney's drawing takes slight liberties with standard images of the philosopher in that his Chrysippus has a beard that coils inwards towards the center. Classical marbles, reproduced in plaster of Paris, were readily available in the 18th century in shops like that on the Strand owned by John Flaxman’s father. William Hayley notes that Romney frequented the shop of John Flaxman’s father ‘to purchase figures in plaster’ (a list of six casts and what the artist paid for them is preserved in Barrow No. 1). Nevertheless, it is more likely that the Chrysippus head and the other chalk drawings on this page were studied from casts in the Duke of Richmond’s gallery of casts. The similarity of Romney's head to one appearing in a self-portrait by John Hamilton Mortimer suggests that both artists had access to the same casts in the Duke of Richmond’s gallery. Clearly, Romney had made this drawing by 1764 at the latest as a head nearly identical to the one studied here (and that in 104) appears in Romney's painting of Elizabeth, Lady Blunt, which dates to the latter half of 1764. Two casts of the same head also appear in A Conversation, exhibited in 1766.
The other chalk drawings on the page could also have been made in the Duke of Richmond's gallery, which had casts of the hands of Charity and Fortitude from Bernini's monument to Alexander VII and hands from Pierre Le Gros’s silver and copper statue of St. Ignatius. This carefully shaded hand study, with highlights of white chalk, would have aided Romney in painting hands in his portraits. For information on the cast gallery see John Kenworthy-Browne, ‘The Duke of Richmond's Gallery in Whitehall’ British Art Journal X/1, 2009.
At the bottom of the page, upside-down is a drawing in brown ink of two reclining figures. To the left of the Chrysippus head, in landscape orientation, is a faint graphite drawing of a figure kneeling over a supine figure with a full head of hair and beard. Also in graphite, above the hand study are additional notations including the numbers: ‘1/2, 11, 1= 77 and 1-’.
The mixture of media and techniques on this page, plus the inclusion of notations and aides memoire provide a meaningful introduction to Romney's manner as a draftsman. His sketchbooks are often an assemblage of unrelated material, suggesting an unsystematic approach. As an idea presented itself, the artist jotted it down, crowding images onto a page in random orientation, sometimes including written notations as well.
Page 2
A male figure in a two-wheeled chariot races on an upward diagonal behind speeding horses. At lower left is an indistinct figure, which could be a participant in the scene, or perhaps, more likely, an alternate pose for the figure in the chariot. Scribbled lines behind the chariot could suggest landscape elements. It is conceivable the subject may be Romney's recollection of the Fountain of Apollo at Versailles, a dramatic sculptural assemblage by Jean-Baptiste Tuby, dating from 1668-1671. Thomas Greene, who travelled to Paris with Romney in 1764, noted that the two ‘walked about in the gardens [of Versailles] admiring the fine marble statues…’. Tuby's complex sculpture of gilded bronze is sure to have made an impact on Romney as he and Greene wandered through the gardens. Baroque paintings which included chariots could also have influenced him.
Page 3
At bottom left on the page, oriented in landscape mode, is a thumbnail half-length portrait study of a woman. Such a mixing of small, thumbnail portrait studies with other types of drawings is characteristic of this sketchbook. This is the first of such drawings to appear. The composition, marked off by lines, completely fills the demarcated area. Within a landscape setting, the figure stands beside a fountain topped by sculpture adorned with infant nudes. This is a study for the portrait Mrs Judith Clive, c.1764. (See similar studies in 30 and at the bottom of 12.)
At the right side of the page, two additional rectangles are delineated, but the compositions within are unreadable. Eight additional faint sketches appear on the page. Three show figures from the back, two seated, one standing. One drawing at mid-page depicts the upper body of a woman in contemporary dress, left arm raised. To the left of this figure, sideways, is an almost unintelligible frontal crouching figure, and to its right are two very faint studies of heads. At the upper left of the page is a bare-legged figure shown di sotto in su with draperies swirling above its waist. (See note on 5.)
Page 4
Six drawings, two of them extremely faint, depict a winged, flying figure. (The wings appear most clearly on the figure lowest on the page). In the two most readable drawings, the right leg is shown in alternate poses. (See also 3 and 5.)
Page 5
On this page we see Romney’s mind moving on parallel tracks, combining portrait studies with subject ideas. The fairly detailed composition drawing occupying the upper part of this sheet is a fully realized presentation of a subject related to figure studies in 3 and 4. In this apotheosis scene, we see a di sotto in su image of a bearded man with flowing hair, wafted heavenward by a winged angel and four cherubs, one with visible wings. The man wears flowing robes, which leave his legs bare from the knee down. Curiously, the face of the flying figure, which bears the load of the man's body, has been scratched out with repeated lines.
What is surprising is that Romney could have been drawn to such a subject in the first place. It is true that the Italian decorative painters Cipriani and Zucchi were by now both in England, and cycles of paintings for lunettes and ceilings were being painted in London and at country seats. However, Romney could hardly have expected to be commissioned for such works. What is impressive is that he could be inspired by such a wide variety of poses in the first place and so eclectic in the images he chose to set down in his sketchbooks. It is possible he was simply intrigued by the unusual poses afforded by a vantage point ‘from below upwards’ and wanted to expand his abilities to represent the human figure in as wide a variety of poses as possible. That Romney took note of such sky-borne stagings is corroborated by his reference to The Assumption of the Virgin by Corregio [sic], or Parmigiano [sic], which he saw in Genoa en route to Rome in 1773. As he wrote in his travel journal, ‘The figure of the virgin is suspended in the clouds in a very becoming posture … She is surrounded by a group of angels and children’.
The apotheosis scene here was clearly influenced by various ceiling paintings or large canvases Romney could have seen in London and Paris. His composition appears to be a free adaptation combining two sources: Domenichino's St. Paul Being Borne Aloft and Le Sueur’s St Bruno is Carried Up to Heaven. Romney could have seen both these works while visiting Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764. The Domenichino painting had been in the French Royal collections
since before 1695, and Le Sueur’s painting was in the Carthusian monastery in Paris, which, as we know from Thomas Greene's account, Romney visited twice. These connections raise the possibility that Romney took this sketchbook with him to Paris in August of 1764. Certain additional drawings in the sketchbook lend support to that speculation, among them 45, 64 and 78. It is possible Romney was inspired by apotheosis paintings he saw in Paris to contemplate a painting on the subject of the apotheosis of Shakespeare.
On the lower half of the page, two studies for a group portrait are marked out within rectangles. These are the first drawings in the sketchbook for The Warren Family, a commission Romney received during his 1767 visit to Lancaster. The painting was completed by spring of 1769, and was included in the exhibition of the Free Society of Artists that opened on May 1 of that year. The Kendal sketchbook has at least fifteen studies for this painting on six different pages, or possibly more, depending upon how one interprets several very faint drawings. In the completed portrait, Sir George Warren stands to the left, his right arm extended, gesturing towards the Roman Colosseum in the background; Lady Warren sits in the center, while the child, Elizabeth, stands at the right holding a bird. The two drawings on this page present a composition different from that of the painting and different from one another. Both drawings show the father standing at the right and the mother seated. The position of the child is the major difference between the drawings: In the one to the left, the child is in the center; in the other drawing she stands to the left of her mother. Romney worked on The Warren Family at widely separated points in the sketchbook (See 7, 18, 20, 82, and 96), using the drawings to try out various compositional arrangements.
Page 6
Marked out in landscape orientation at the center of the page is a subject that will capture Romney's attention in at least thirteen composition drawings and figural studies in this sketchbook. The basic composition shows two males urging a third towards a waiting boat, manned by additional figures. The reluctant male looks back toward a female, nude above the waist, lying face up on the ground in front of dark rocks or a cavern. In this particular drawing an additional head appears in the central group, but this is likely an alternate pose for the figure in the middle. (A faint additional study of figures from the composition appears just to the right.)
The subject may be identified as Rinaldo abandoning Armida, an episode from Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata. The episode occurs in Canto XVI, lines 425-28 and 437-44 wherein Carlo and Ubaldo persuade Rinaldo to leave Armida and rejoin the crusaders' battles:
She could no more; as these last words she spoke,
Scarce from her lips the sounds imperfect broke.
She faints! She sinks! all breathless pale she lies
In chilly sweats, and shuts her languid eyes...
'Twixt life and death her struggling senses lost?
Compassion pleads, and courtesy detains;
But dire necessity his flight constrains.
He parts:--and now a friendly breeze prevails,
(The pilot's tresses waving in the gales)
The golden sail o'er surging ocean speeds,
And from the sight the flying shore recedes.
(Trans. Hoole, 1763)
Tasso's epic poem was enjoying a revival in popularity in England during this period. Philip Doyne's translation of the poem, The Delivery of Jerusalem, was published in 1 761, and John Hoole published another translation, Jerusalem Delivered, in 1763. Romney was not alone in turning to Tasso's epic poem for inspiration. For example, Benjamin West produced a painting based on the poem in the l760s, and Angelica Kauffmann painted at least three scenes based on the poem, exhibiting them at the Royal Academy in the l770s. Romney's composition is close in concept to a 1742/1745 painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (See other drawings on this subject in 20, 23, 24, 28, 34, 75, 80, 81, and 93). The identification of this drawing as a scene from Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata is further strengthened by the fact that Romney also dealt with another episode from this poem, Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden, in an equally large number of sketches in the sketchbook (See 22.) At the bottom of the page are two sketches of a seated woman.
Page 7At top right is a study for The Warren Family. Here, in contrast to drawings in 5, Lady Warren stands while her husband sits. The child stands between them. Curved lines in the background may suggest the Colosseum in Rome, which features in the finished painting. This drawing overlaps a faint image of a well-muscled figure, right arm raised.
Two drawings to the left of the page may be early ideas for Romney's portrait of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. This is suggested by the fact that the seated woman rests her arm upon an urn, a symbol of mortality. In one of the drawings, two small figures crouch at this figure's feet. Conversely, these could be part of a sculptural relief on the support for the urn. The present drawing is the first in the sketchbook to show a seated female in a double portrait touching an urn. The others in the group are in 21, 43, 45, and 51. In the upper drawing, a second woman, right arm raised, stands behind the seated figure, while in the lower drawing this figure holds a staff (perhaps a shepherd's crook) in her upraised arm as she bends towards the seated woman. (For related drawings showing the second figure holding a staff see 43, 47, 51, and 52.) As the staff has no direct connection with the theme of mortality, the reason for its inclusion is unclear. Also likely to be portrait studies are six slight sketches depicting a seated woman with two, sometimes three, children. (See two similar, more detailed, depictions of this group in 36.)
Page 8The most striking image on this page is a densely shaded study of a kneeling woman with arms outspread. The dramatic lighting striking the woman from above infuses the scene with a spiritual quality, reinforced by the woman's kneeling pose and rapt expression. The woman is either veiled or has long, flowing hair. In 1765, Romney exhibited A lady’s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters. This drawing may be related to that painting. See 10 and 30 for additional studies of this figure. These drawings appear to have been directly influenced by Charles Le Brun's The Repentant Magdalen, which Romney saw in the Carmelite church in Paris in 1764 and which was singled out in Thomas Greene's journal as a work which excited their attention.
On the lower half of the page, five nearly identical drawings depict a standing woman facing the viewer, presumably portrait studies. Another drawing shows a casually seated man looking upwards at a woman in an apron and mob cap (or bonnet), whose right arm is raised. A line (a broom?) slants downward. A genre scene rather than a portrait is suggested. Above the middle of the page is a slight sketch of the same seated man, here reversed. At the top of the page, left, is another drawing of a standing woman and a seated male, but here the woman wears a full-sleeved gown and no cap. At mid-page, right, is a faintly rendered scene with several figures that is difficult to interpret.
Page 9At the bottom of the page, left, is the same pair seen at top left in 8, a stylishly-clad woman with modish hairdo standing before a seated male. Here the drawing is in brown ink, crossed through with lines.
In the center at the bottom of the page is a carefully shaded head of a female wearing a headband and peaked cap pushed back on her head. The fastidious shading and careful observation of this face present a striking contrast to all the other drawings on the page. The artist's meticulous concentration has produced a tiny, realistic gem, a testament to his powers of observation. This facial type was echoed later in one of the women in the artist's Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, of c. 1770.
At mid-page, upside down, are two drawings, enclosed within lines, depicting a seated female, both legs bent sharply at the knee and right arm extended along a support. A kneeling infant extends its head towards her bared breast. Roundish forms in one of the drawings may imply additional figures. The bared breast and the infant suggest a Charity or a Madonna Lactans subject, although the curiously animated pose of the woman and the infant's awkward reach towards the breast subvert such interpretations. A third, faint sketch of the woman and infant appears below these drawings.
At the top of the page, also upside down, is a frontal standing female in contrapposto. Three figures viewed from behind depart at left. This drawing is related to drawings in 12.
Page 10The kneeling woman seen in 8, possibly a study for A lady s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters, appears again here in four studies (see also 30). Oddly, the most detailed of these, within a rectangle and densely shaded, cuts the women's extended left leg off at the knee. One of the drawings reflects the pose of the figure in 8, with the arms flung wide; the other drawings vary the pose, with one or both of the woman's arms bent at the elbow. A standing woman at bottom right may be related to these drawings though it also bears similarities to figures on the following page (11). Two additional faint sketches of standing figures complete the images on this page.
Page 11All the drawings on this page are upside down. In four particularly engaging drawings, a standing woman varies her pose in an almost cinematic manner. Gracefully managed draperies enhance the figure's allure. The artist's precise observation suggests the finesse of Watteau. With deft economy, Romney captures the woman's tiny feet with their mincing gait and renders hand gestures with the utmost delicacy. Three drawings marked off within rectangles depict two standing and one seated woman. These drawings, more evidently than the others on the page, are intended as portrait studies. A tiny face at mid-page, left, is related to the drawings of standing women above and below it. Additional vague marks are difficult to decipher.
Page 12A composition at mid-page right is echoed by figure studies above it. (All are upside down.) It may be an idea for a subject picture rather than a portrait. Supporting this view is the fact that a figure at the left is half cut off and shown from the back. In addition, the principal figure in the composition is shown in vigorous contrapposto rather than in the repose more typical of portraits. Two very similar drawings in landscape orientation are half-length studies of a woman in a landscape. The pose of this figure is similar to that of two of the full-length figures on the previous page (11).
A drawing upside down at the bottom of the page provides an interesting demonstration of Romney’s graphic method. Lightly delineating the female figure in graphite, the artist next starts adding dense shading, beginning at the right (when the drawing is viewed right side up). This is an unusual piecemeal method to use in applying chiaroscuro. The woman’s pose and the widecollared cloak she wears are suggestive of Romney’s Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle, c.1764. A very faint sketch of a woman's head and torso at mid-page is probably unrelated to other drawings on the page.
Page 13All the drawings on the page are upside down. At the bottom, eight standing female figures rush through space, displaying a variety of poses and gestures. With split second timing, the artist captures the moving pageant of life going on about him with the same verve as in 11. One of the figures wears a wide-collared cloak like the figure in a portrait study at the bottom of 12; possibly both drawings are related to the portrait of Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle (c. 1764).
Six drawings depict male figures. In two of these the man is seated. In four others, he stands. The poses reflect common types Romney had by this time adopted in his portraiture. Of great interest here is the transformation that the standing male figure undergoes. Twice shown in contemporary dress (coat, waistcoat, and breeches), the figure appears to be studied for a portrait. Abruptly, the staging changes: The striding figure now wears Roman armor and a plumed hat or helmet and brandishes a dagger. While the man's right arm now makes a different gesture, his legs are identical. (See 15 for a discussion of the possible subject of this drawing.) Trapped by ‘this cursed portrait painting’ in order to earn his livelihood, Romney was always seeking to excel, instead, in the loftier art of history painting. That ambivalence finds direct expression on this page, as an eighteenth-century male becomes transformed into an actor in a historical drama.
The emotionally-charged figure standing by herself upside down at top left prefigures, in her active, expressive pose, various identities Emma Hart would assume as Romney's model, beginning in the 1780s.
Page 14Two drawings on this page relate to Romney's important early masterpiece of 1763, The Death of General Wolfe (now lost). A figure lying on the ground, supported by a second figure, shows, in reverse, the same figure that appears in two drawings in 15. With careful modeling, the artist conveys Wolfe's powerful musculature. The sharply bent head suggests the figure is dying. In a second carefully modeled drawing below, two figures support the slumping body of the mortally wounded general. It is curious that these drawings appear next to three studies, in brown ink, of the figure of Melancholy, a painting the artist exhibited in 1770. Employing different media and placed upside down in relation to the Wolfe drawings, the drawings of Melancholy must have been opportunistically inserted at a later date to fill an empty spot in the sketchbook. (One of the drawings is actually superimposed on a slight graphite sketch beneath.) The calligraphic fluency and ease of their style sharply contrast with the sober, carefully shaded forms of the Wolfe drawings. Likewise, Melancholy's elongated figure, formed of flowing S-shaped curves and wearing generalized rather than contemporary clothing, forms an instructive contrast with the more directly observed graphite figures of the young women in 13. There are other drawings for Melancholy in Barrow sketchbook No. 1 and Truro sketchbook No. 1, and many have appeared on the open market.
The graphite sketches of the Wolfe composition here and in 15 are the only preliminary drawings thus far identified although two oil sketches (Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal and New Brunswick Museum, Canada) have been associated with the Wolfe painting. Two faint sketches of a seated male, in one case holding a tablet, appear upside down at bottom right.
Page 15Two drawings related to The Death of General Wolfe (1763) appear at the bottom of this sheet. These conform to the contemporary description of the painting cited by Jennifer C. Watson (Jennifer C. Watson: George Romney in Canada (1985) p. 21): ‘The Genl. Is represented leaning against & supported (by) two Officers who Express great Concern, the Blood appears trickling from the Wound in his Wrist & from that in his Breast agt. which one of the Officers holds his Hand a third Officer is coming to the Genl. (to) inform him the french give way & appears greatly struck with Surprize.’ In the lightly sketched drawing at the left, the ‘third Officer’ mentioned in this description enters the scene. The second drawing, filled in with shading, includes a battle flag, balanced by a stubby tree to the right. Here, the modeling of the figure of Wolfe is more cursory than in 14. Three sketches, upside down, of a supine figure are also probably connected to the Wolfe composition.
Another figural grouping above the Wolfe studies depicts a collapsing woman supported by two other figures; a third figure rushes away at the right. This figural grouping recalls the group of three figures in 14, yet is definitely not related to The Death of General Wolfe. For Romney, a particular pose could often trigger an idea for an entirely different subject, as evidenced here. A faint sketch at top right is another study of this collapsing woman.
At top left is the same dagger-wielding warrior clad in a plumed helmet and Roman armor first seen in 13. Here, the armband attached to the man's faintly-indicated shield is evident. A pool of shadow to the right gives the figure spatial context. It is possible this may represent Lucius Junius Brutus, legendary founder of the Roman Republic. After Lucretia's rape by Tarquin and her subsequent suicide, Lucretia's body was taken to the Roman forum, where Brutus raised his dagger and swore an oath to drive the Tarquinii from Rome. For other drawings which may be associated with the Lucretia story see 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 53, and 78.
Page 16At the bottom of the page is a fully worked up, densely shaded composition drawing based on a version of Titian's Venus and Adonis. Titian's concept of the myth was accessible during the 18th Century through various autograph versions, workshop products, copies, and engravings. (Over thirty such versions survive today.) The painted version Romney would have seen was one that was in the Orleans collection at the Palais Royal when he and Thomas Greene visited Paris in 1764. Yet, in that version, Adonis wears a hunter's cap. Further, since Romney shows the original composition in reverse, he must have been working from an engraving. Even here, however, he takes liberties in copying Titian's composition. Venus's left leg is hanging down rather than splayed out, and Adonis is depicted almost directly above Venus rather than to the side. Finally, instead of the sleeping Eros in the background, there are two putti toying with arrows. Given Romney's susceptibility to the charms of female beauty and his desire to improve his ability to render the female nude, Titian's painting was a logical subject for him to study. Evidence of Romney's interest in Titian and Venetian art in general is suggested by his notation in RA Sketchbook No. 2: ‘Aretin a Dialogue on Painting.’ This must refer to Lodovico Dolce' s l'Aretino, which concludes with a paean to Titian). For another drawing featuring Venus and Adonis see l00.
At mid-page, upside down, is a seated half-draped figure with a putto at its knees. The upraised left arm echoes that of Adonis above. However, this cannot be a representation of Adonis. Instead, it mirrors similar drawings later in the sketchbook. (See note on 19 and also 38 and 79). Two scribbly sketches of a striding female figure appear upside down at the top of the page. This figure closely resembles one in two drawings in 12.
Page 17Three studies of a nude woman reaching out to grasp a standing male about the waist are clearly derived from Romney’s study of the print of Titian’s Venus and Adonis (see 16). Here Venus has become a more athletic figure in Romney's powerful reworking of the poses. The figure twists with a dynamic torsion expressive of energy and emotion, different from the harmonious plenitude conveyed by Titian’s Venus, as mirrored in Romney's copy. Romney has internalized the lessons learned from Titian to express himself in an idiom all his own. Below the middle of the page is a faint sketch of extended legs and an outstretched body, presumably related to the drawings above.
At the bottom of the page is a lightly sketched group of dancers. Romney often sketched dancing figures, which are found in many of his works. If this sketch was purpose-driven, it could be that it expresses an idea for dancers in the bacchanalian relief seen in the background of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. See additional drawings of dancers in 40, 41, 44, 72, and 76. (The dancers here are somewhat similar to those in 40.)
Page 18Three studies for The Warren Family appear upside down on this page. (See note in 5.) In two of the drawings, the father sits at the left, the child is in the center, and the stepmother stands at the right. The third drawing changes this arrangement. There, the father stands at the left, the mother sits in the center, and the child stands at the right. It is this arrangement (seen also in 82 and 96) that was adopted in the completed painting. At this point, however, Romney is still experimenting with the arrangement of the figures.
There are scribbled lines at the left side of the page. A slight sketch of a dancing figure and a shaded object (a foreshortened book?) appear at bottom right. The dancer echoes the pose of two similar figures in 39.
Page 19An intriguing composition appears in landscape orientation at the bottom right of this sheet. Viewed upright, it shows a woman, arm extended, staring down at a man lying face up in her lap. His legs are bent over the side of what could be a bier. A robed figure shines a lantern upon the couple. Beyond the dark interior, shown in perspective, is a backdrop of dark clouds obscuring the moon in a night sky. One immediately thinks of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene 3, when Juliet recovers from her drugged, death-like sleep to find her lover dead from poison. Romney did not produce a painting on this subject in the 1760s, nor did he explore it as a topic in the mid-1780s, after the launching of the Boydell Shakespeare Galle ry. Yet this powerful drawing suggests he could have created an impressive work based on Romeo and Juliet in the Tomb had he pursued this composition further. A second, very slight, rendering of the female with the body across her lap is at the right of the fully worked-up composition.
The elongated vertical format of Romney's tomb scene suggests a bookplate illustration. Nicholas Rowe's 1709 edition of Romeo and Juliet had as its frontispiece an engraving of the tomb scene by Elisha Kirkall after Francois Boitard. Later illustrations, which incorporated Friar Laurence holding a lantern, include those by Gerard Vander Gucht after Hubert Gravelot (1740) and by Anthony Walker (1754). While Romney may have been familiar with one or another of these prints, his own design is superior to them in its concentrated focus and simplicity. The earlier illustrations, instead, are overwhelmed with subsidiary details. The murky lighting effects and the fact that the scene takes place in a stage-like setting against a flat backdrop lead one to also consider whether current theatrical performance influenced Romney. However, Romeo and Juliet, as currently performed, had been rewritten by David Garrick to have Juliet wake up before Romeo dies, and the two have a few final moments together. In 1753, Benjamin Wilson had painted Garrick as Romeo, standing with right arm raised in amazement as Juliet awakens and rises from her bier. This treatment is very different from Romney’s, which is closer to the text as Shakespeare wrote it in that Romeo is already dead in Juliet’s lap. Below the center of the page to the left are three studies of a figure in a similar pose to that of a seated figure in 16. Here, the figure’s face is frontal and clearly female. The most detailed of these three drawings includes the putto seen also in 16, touching the female figure's right hand. Though not exact copies, these drawings evoke comparison with Terpsichore, the muse of dance, by the seventeenth-century French painter Eustache Le Sueur for the Chamber of the Muses in the Hotel Lambert between 1652-55 (now in the Louvre). A companion painting in this suite of pictures, Urania, the muse of astronomy, is shown in a roughly similar pose. Romney was particularly responsive to the art of Le Sueur. Though he did not favor the work of contemporary French painters, ‘those of the time of Louis the fourteenth are very great, and every church and palace is filled with them’, he wrote in a letter to his brother Peter. As John Romney observes, ‘Among the French painters, the works of Le Sueur seemed to coincide the most with his own ideas’. Thomas Greene’s journal of his trip to Paris with Romney in 1764 mentions Le Sueur three times, so we know this painter received special consideration. Le Sueur’s pretty feminine types, with their sweetness and harmonious coloring, were bound to appeal to Romney. A total of seven drawings of this figure appear in the Kendal Sketchbook (see 17, 19, 38, 79). Upside-down to the other images on the sheet are a male in contemporary dress, perhaps a portrait study, and a standing female reaching towards an object held by a putto.
Page 20On this page, as on many others in the sketchbook, Romney mixes portrait studies with subject compositions. The five portrait studies, ranging from a slight scribble to an amply shaded study contained within rectangular borders, all show a man, a woman, and female child. They are, without doubt, trial groupings for the figures in The Warren Family (see also 5, 7, 18, 82, and 96). The drawing at bottom left is set down on top of the figure of Armida, a figure at the right in a composition drawing for Rinaldo abandoning Armida, first seen in 6. (This composition should be viewed in landscape orientation.) The central group of figures in this composition, Rinaldo and his two companions, appear to the left of Armida, and the boat is faintly indicated further to the left. Another drawing of Rinaldo and one of his companions appears upside down at top center on the page.
Page 21The largest drawing on this sheet depicts a seated woman leaning backwards, grasping a nude male about the buttocks. This may be, as in 17, another instance of Romney's reworking a pose ultimately derived from Titian's Venus and Adonis (see 16), demonstrating his ability to redirect a particular pose towards a different subject. Here the figures are reversed from those in the artist's study after Titian. In addition, the female is shown from the front, the male from the back. Though the lower part of the woman’s body, with one leg studied in alternate poses, appears unclothed, a waistband and sleeve suggest she is not. The male is nude. At top left, upside down, is a sensitively rendered drawing of a seated female nude, arms upraised and legs crossed at the ankle. A second, scarcely readable sketch, which may also depict this figure, is at bottom right.
Just above the center of the page is a sketch for the composition seen in 19, Romeo and Juliet in the Tomb, though here the woman appears to the left rather than in the center. The extravagant bent-knee pose of Romeo suggests a signature pose of Garrick's, as reflected in Hogarth’s and Hayman’s depictions of the actor. However, Garrick's staging of Romeo and Juliet is not consistent with Romney’s depiction of the tomb scene since the actor rewrote the ending to have Juliet wake up before Romeo's suicide and the two share a few moments before they die. That is clearly not the case here since Romeo's lifeless body is draped over the newly awakened Juliet's lap.
Beneath this drawing, to the right, is a slight sketch of a standing adult with a child. This could possibly be another study for The Warren Family (see note on 5). The drawing upside down at top right depicts the same woman seen resting her hand atop an urn in 7. On this page, the second woman, rather than holding a staff, as in 7, sits on a higher level behind the first figure. A landscape background is suggested in the densely shaded background. A second study of these two women, also upside down, appears at the middle of the page. For other similar drawings see 43, 45, and 51.
Page 22At bottom right are three studies of a seated man gazing at a woman who looks at her own image in a mirror. The subject can be identified as Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden, from Tasso's, Gerusalemme Liberata. Tasso's epic poem, first published in 1581, is a fanciful tale about the First Crusade, which centers on the conflict between love and duty. Rinaldo, a Christian prince aiding the Saracens in defending Jerusalem, seeks out the sorceress Armida to convince her to reverse the spell she has put on several of his companions, which has turned them into monsters. In Armida's enchanted garden, the two fall in love:
Dependent from his side (unusual sight!)
Appear'd a polish'd mirror, beamy bright:
This in his hand th' enamour'd champion rais'd;
On this, with smiles, the fair Armida gaz'd.
She in the glass her form reflected ‘spies:
And he consults the mirror of her eyes.
(Canto XVI, 145-150; trans. Hoole, 1763)
Titian was clearly of help to Romney in depicting Armida’s body, as one can see in comparing these drawings to the artist's copy of Venus and Adonis (see 16). A similar nude has been employed in a drawing of The Toilet of Venus upside down at the top of this page. The image of Venus looking in a mirror held by her maidservant has been awkwardly combined with two figures rummaging through a cassone at the right. These figures are reminiscent of figures in the right background of another of Titian's paintings, Venus of Urbino, which Romney could have known through an engraving. In this manner did Romney perfect his method, studying the works of the Old Masters and then redeploying motifs in subjects of his own. Romney may have been drawn to the theme of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's enchanted Garden through his familiarity with Domenichino's painting on the subject, a work acquired by Louis XIV in 1685 and in the French Royal Collections when Romney visited Paris in 1764. Romney also studied the subject in Royal Academy Sketchbook No. 2.
A drawing in the center of the page depicts a female nude standing on rocks and leaning against a post. This vaguely resembles Andromeda, as seen in many drawings later in the sketchbook. (See 50, 51, and 53-63.) A figure to the right may represent Andromeda in reverse. There are additional scribbles on the page, one of which suggests a profile.
Page 23All drawings here are in landscape orientation, which is seldom the case in this sketchbook, in which it occurs only 23 times. On this page, Romney deals with both of the subjects that interested him from Gerusalemme Liberata, Tasso's epic poem. Two drawings depict Rinaldo abandoning Armina and two others depict Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. (For additional information on these subjects, see 6 and 22.)
Two additional drawings appear here which are unrelated to the Rinaldo and Armida story. The one at the bottom of the page depicts a woman and a foreshortened, reclining infant. The other, depicting two striding females, is of more interest. It is very likely a study for Romney's portrait of Two Sisters, half-length, which he exhibited in 1767 at the Free Society of Artists, and which is now untraced. In 1770, Robert Dunkarton exhibited at the Society of Artists the proof of a mezzotint after Romney, undoubtedly the portrait in question, under the title Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. This particular drawing, though full length, evokes the figures in the Dunkarton print. The Kendal Sketchbook has a large number of drawings of two striding females analogous to these, which are presumably related to this painting. These occur on the following pages: 39, 40, 43, 52, 63, 73, 75, 77, 88, 91, 100, 102, and (possibly) 103. The example on page 43 has one of the figures pointing towards a sculpted pedestal topped by an urn, most likely a grave marker, which would obviously underscore the theme of mortality. Most of the drawings in the series depict the figures at full-length, rather than half-length as in the completed painting.
Page 24The drawings on this page are upside down. The densely shaded thumbnail drawing can be tied with confidence to a completed portrait, Elizabeth, Lady Blunt, c. 1764. In the painting, the setting is out of doors, with a landscape opening in the distance. Here, the setting is an interior. Drapery and an elaborate pull cord frame the figure. The sitter’s right elbow rests atop a classical bust, as it does in the completed painting. Her pose closely approximates to that of the painting, although here the index finger of her left hand is not pointed downward, and her costume lacks the sash, which features prominently in the painting. Despite the small size of this drawing, the artist has nonetheless managed to suggest Lady Blunt's hairstyle and individual features. The variegated shading is closely attended to here, giving the effect of light streaming in through a window to the left, illuminating the upper part of the sitter's body; however, the handling of light striking the plinth seems arbitrary. This drawing differs strongly from the more ephemeral additional sketches on the page. (For another possible study for Lady Blunt see 100).
A faint sketch of a standing woman at top right, while it echoes to an extent Lady Blunt’s pose, forms a transition between the portrait of Lady Blunt and a subject composition appearing in 25, in which a similar figure appears. A second drawing of a standing female, in a different pose, is at bottom right. Finally, the slight sketch above the Blunt study might be related to Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6) though it is faint and difficult to read.
Page 25Drawings are upside down on this page. A new composition appears here. A standing female points her right arm towards a seated male. Two additional figures appear at the right. Three additional studies of the woman appear above. One of these, which is very faint, was drawn over by the artist as he made the composition study. The subject is presumably The Accusation of Susannah, a subject Romney also dealt with in a number of drawings in Courtauld Sketchbook No. 1. A seated man appears to the left in one of the Courtauld drawings though not in an identical pose to that here. In the Courtauld drawing, the emphatic curve and loose, approximating line used to depict Susannah contrasts with the more factual, darkly shaded method used here. In part, this is a product of the different media used: ink versus graphite. However, at the end of the 1760's Romney was developing a looser, freer style of drawing than had prevailed previously in his work. (See 24, 31, 92, and 99 for related drawings.)
Page 26This page contains only scribbles.
Page 27This entire page is given over to copies Romney made from various sources, remarkable in their range and variety. The blank eyes, straight nose and full lips of the face at top left earmark it as a copy of a classical head. Harshly illuminated from the lower right, the head is carefully presented with strong chiaroscuro.
Strong chiaroscuro effects were to become a hallmark of Romney’s late work. His son John comments on his propensity to use different sources of strong light in his dark studio to light the classical casts he acquired late in life. (Such methods were often employed in cast galleries to sharpen definition.) This head may well have been copied from a cast in the Duke of Richmond's sculpture gallery, perhaps from one of the ‘busts from unknown source’, among these a Juno, most likely a cast of the so-called Ludovisi Juno, in fact a representation of Antonia Minor, niece of Augustus. Alternatively, Romney could possibly have been working from a cast at the St. Martin's Lane Academy, which also had a few classical casts (see Ilaria Bignamini and Martin Postle, The Artist's Model: Its Role in British Art from Lely to Etty, exhibition catalogue, 1991 University Art Gallery, Nottingham, The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1991, cat. 4.)
The portrait roughly inscribed within an oval conveys the manner and staging of an Old Master. However, fitting this particular drawing into the history of portraiture is difficult: the clean shaven youth with drapery flung over his shoulder and possibly wearing a mazzocchio-type headdress suggests the Renaissance, yet the image does not fit easily into a Renaissance milieu as its oval format was rare in the Renaissance, when the tondo, i.e. round, shape was preferred. (Dosso Dossi did paint a number of oval portraits in Ferrara in the early 16th century, but this is anomalous). Full size oval portraits were not unknown in the 17th century and the oval became increasingly used for portrait miniatures though Romney seems unlikely to have been copying from a miniature. The figure's right hand rests on his upper breast. Although two studies of hands are found on this page, they do not mirror the hand in the portrait drawing. In their graceful expressiveness, the hands are reminiscent of the hand study in 1. Conceivably life studies, they could also have been copied from prints or even casts. The landscape study, with its looming foreground rocks, confusing middle ground features, distant mountain, and dark sky with strange cloud forms, does not suggest an actual landscape. Perhaps adapted from a print, it is a strange drawing indeed.
Page 28Four drawings on this page depict a man supporting a slumping woman. (In two of these she appears to be offering some resistance.) Three of the drawings suggest that the man wears a helmet, as will be made explicit in other drawings of this pair later in the sketchbook. Related drawings include 32, 38, 39, 40, 53, and 78. The subject is probably The Rape of Lucretia. Lucretia, the legendary Roman matron who committed suicide after her rape by Tarquin, son of the King of Rome, was the epitome of ‘Pudicitia’, i.e. modesty and sexual virtue. She provided a proper model for artists in an age in which chastity and fidelity were much prized as feminine virtues ensuring that only rightful heirs would inherit property in a landed economy. Richardson's novel Clarissa (1748) offered a Lucretia-like model in a young woman who, though she does not directly commit suicide after her rape by the villain Lovelace, pines away until she dies of guilt and remorse. Correspondingly, in the visual arts, norms of 18th-century portraiture provided ways of demonstrating feminine virtue and the position of women within a family, just as subject pictures could put forward models like Lucretia.
We know Romney was interested in the Lucretia theme from notations in his hand in Yale Sketchbook No. 7, in which he lists various ideas for subject pictures, among them ‘Lucrecia’. That sketchbook dates from the artist's stay in Italy, 1773-5, but it is clear that he had already dealt with the subject earlier, as is shown here. There are numerous related drawings in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 and Barrow Sketchbook No. 1. There is also one drawing on the subject in Louvre Sketchbook No. 2 (45). A very faint sketch between two of the Lucretia drawings may also depict this subject or, possibly, figures from the composition of Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6). Two additional drawings depict a seated woman. In the more detailed of these she wears a mob cap. A tiny sketch of a face appears above this figure’s head.
Page 29At top right is a landscape view of a three-arched bridge spanning a river. Through one of the arches one sees cattle and a two-mast boat with sails down. A building appears in the middle distance and hills rise up beyond. Faintly visible angled shapes in the foreground, left, suggest that the scene is observed from a height. Romney would have been able to observe such a view as this during his return visits to the north in 1765 or 1767. There are several three-arched stone bridges in Cumbria that could have provided a vista similar to this. Though added to or rebuilt since Romney's time, these include the Devil's bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale and the Nether and Miller bridges in Kendal. (Built in stone in 1743, the Miller Bridge was rebuilt in 1818.) Whether a craft the size of the one in the drawing could have navigated the local rivers, though, is questionable. Perhaps the boat is shown out of scale; otherwise, Romney could have been using a print as his source. However, since the scene appears on the same page as studies for a portrait painted during the artist's 1767 trip to the north, it does suggest that it might reflect an actual site. Romney's son John wrote of his father’s deep responsiveness to the beauty of his native Cumbria, with its ‘winding vales, and swelling eminences’. For information on Kendal in Romney's time, see John Satchell, ‘Romney's Kendal’ Transactions of the Romney Society vol. 4 (1999) pp. 18-28.
At the center of the page and below are four portrait studies of a woman and a child sitting (in one case standing) on a block-like support. These are most likely preliminary studies for Romney’s painting of Mrs. Edward Salisbury and Daughter, painted in Lancaster during the artist's trip to the north in 1767.
A sketch at the bottom left of the page may also be a portrait study. The woman descending a stairway bears a slight (probably coincidental) similarity to a figure descending stairs in 102. In this instance there is a faint suggestion of a second figure behind the woman. An oval shape in the crook of the figure's right arm is difficult to decipher. At the top left are two sketches of a seated nude and one of a standing woman.
Page 30At top left is a half-length portrait study of a woman placed in front of a curving wall topped by an urn. A flowing wrap with a wide edging opens to reveal the woman's dress. This drawing can be tied to Romney's portrait of Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle, c.1764. The figure’s left arm, which in the painting crosses her waist, is suggested here only by a gap in the shading of the cape. The wall topped by an urn as well as the landscape background appear in the completed painting. However, the hound, stroked by the sitter as it jumps at her side, a notable feature in the painting, is not in evidence here.
The sitter’s right hand does reach out, nonetheless, towards an unidentifiable object. (For other possible studies for this painting see 3 and 12 [bottom of page, upside down].)
Three drawings on the page are related to the kneeling woman seen first in 8, and are probably related to Romney's 1765 painting A lady’s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters. (See also 10 and 30.) In one of the drawings here, the figure sits rather than kneels. Two additional, possibly unrelated, drawings of seated women are at bottom left. At bottom right is a portrait study of a woman standing beside a child seated on a plinth. This echoes the drawings in 29. The awkward shading on the woman's drapery makes her right leg appear bare.
The four sketches (upside down at top right) of a man in vest, coat and breeches adopt a half-length pose loosely similar to that of Abraham Rawlinson, most likely painted in 1767. The figure’s air of casual aplomb suits a man of affairs. A faint unrelated sketch of a standing figure is next to these drawings.
Page 31A faint, undecipherable sketch is upside down at the top of the page. The other drawings on the page, also upside down, are related to one another. At mid-page, Romney has made a meticulous study from a model, producing an unusually detailed image. With a delicate line, he delineates the woman's long thin nose with its slight bump and her slightly opened mouth. Her complicated hairdo bound by a ribbon has been closely studied though the contemporary dress she wears is but lightly indicated. That this image haunted the artist is clear from its reappearance, in muted form, in later drawings (see 69 and 95). This figure’s pose and demeanor are echoed in the woman being closely contemplated by two men standing behind her. A lightly sketched figure is sprawled out in front of the standing woman, awkwardly fused with the other figures. (This figure is also seen in three, more distinct, studies at the left). That this man is meant to be included in the composition is made clear by comparison with the composition study in 25.
A woman with meekly lowered head accompanied by two old men naturally brings to mind The Accusation of Susannah, a story from the Apocrypha, in which a falsely accused, virtuous woman is delivered from her persecutors, thus demonstrating how the pure soul will be protected from peril. Various artists besides Romney were attracted to The Accusation of Susannah, among them Benjamin West, who chose it as the subject of one of his first history paintings. While the genesis of Romney's interest in The Accusation of Susannah would appear to be in the Kendal sketchbook, he was to pursue the subject in many drawings and at least one painting before and after his trip to Italy. As John Romney wrote: ‘The first time I saw Mr. Romney after his return from Italy, was in January, 1777, when I found him painting in the evening by lamplight. He was then engaged upon the subject of The Accusation of Susannah by the two Elders… This picture was never finished, owing probably to the difficulty and disagreeableness of painting by an artificial light. The figures were upon a small scale and numerous.’ Among the sketchbooks with drawings related to the subject are: Baroda No. 3; British Museum No. 1; Courtauld No 1; Royal Academy No 1; as well as the Holborn Library and Victoria & Albert Museum sketchbooks. There are also drawings in the Fitzwilliam, Princeton, and Yale collections. For related drawings in the Kendal Sketchbook, see 25, 92, and 99.
Page 32
At top right, upside down, is a male supporting a slumping woman (see note on 28). At bottom right, also upside down, is a running woman with flowing draperies. This figure may be related to the dancing figure at mid-page. (Dancing figures with cymbals can also be found in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No. 1.) A half-length of a woman, also at mid-page, calls to mind studies for A Lady’s head, in the character of a saint (see 8, 10, and 30). However, the woman's breasts may be too prominently emphasized to allow this drawing to be grouped with the others.
Page 33In landscape orientation are four studies of a nude male, his hands apparently bound behind him. This straining figure’s pose recalls that of Michelangelo’s Bound Slave, now in the Louvre. If that is the source of the motif, Romney would necessarily have studied the sculpture from a print since, at the time of Romney's visit to Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764, the Bound Slave was in Cardinal de Richelieu's chateau in Poitou. The fact that the drawing shows the figure in reverse further corroborates a print source. An unrelated drawing at upper right depicts a running female wearing a headdress, right hand outstretched and left hand grasping her skirt. This image might also reflect the influence of a print source.
Page 34The central image on this page depicts Romney’s composition for Rinaldo abandoning Armida, a subject first introduced in 6. In this version, a muscular boatman is shown from the back, along with other figures in the boat at the left. A second slight sketch of the central figure from this composition appears above.
Additional drawings appear upside down on the page. The most detailed of these depicts a striding female holding arrows in her right hand (see related figures in 64 and 35.) Here the female is accompanied by several additional figures. A second faint drawing on this subject appears at the top of the page. The goddess Diana has a bow and arrows as attributes. It is conceivable Romney might have considered staging a portrait with the sitter in the guise of Diana, much as Reynolds would do in his Duchess of Manchester Disarming Cupid, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1769.
The faint sketch of a seated figure at top left may be compared with a figure in a similar pose in three studies (in reverse) in 31. The final drawing on the page, a very faint sketch of a seated woman is upside down at top right.
Page 35A striding female at lower right (upside down) holds an object in her right hand – perhaps sticks or arrows as held by the female in 34. Two faint sketches at the top of this page introduce a new subject. They depict a standing, crowned king, who is seen more clearly in a composition drawing on the following page (36). Most of the remaining drawings on this page also appear to relate to that composition, with two exceptions, both upside down at the left. At mid-page is a very faint sketch of a female nude. The other drawing, which is cut off at the left margin, shows a figure from the back, perhaps accompanied by a dog, and part of another figure. The drawing appears to be related to a composition drawing in 12.
Page 36Figure studies seen in 35 come into better focus here as a full composition for a subject painting. Within an expansive interior, a crowned king stands astride two stairs. A seated woman, presumably the queen, sits to the left of the king. Many courtiers are also present, including two figures kneeling at the feet of the king and an infant clutching the king's leg. At first glance, it would be tempting to interpret this as The Judgment of Solomon. However, one of the figures kneeling before the king appears to be male (see also 37). Thus, an alternate interpretation presents itself: that it shows an episode in the Perseus and Andromeda legend, a mythological subject that Romney focuses on in many drawings in this album (see note on 50 and related drawings.) This particular composition may depict the confrontation of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia with Phineus, who had been Andromeda's betrothed before Perseus arrived to rescue and subsequently marry her. Two figure studies for this composition appear below the larger drawing. If this interpretation is correct, it would represent the second instance in this sketchbook where Romney illustrates two episodes from the same story (as he did with Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata). At the bottom of the page are two portrait studies of a seated woman with two children. These are closely related to drawings in 7.
Page 37At top, portions of the composition in 36 are studied. The powerful anatomy of the kneeling male is notable. At the center of the page, two faint sketches of a standing figure, right leg bent, may or may not relate to this composition. Below is a faint drawing of a half-draped female seen from behind, with indications of a second figure to the right and possibly putti to the left (though these are very difficult to decipher). Too vague to be confidently identified, this could possibly be related either to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s Enchanted Garden or The Toilet of Venus.
Page 38All the drawings are upside down on the page. The large figure within a landscape setting relates to three studies in 19, possibly an interpretation by Romney of Terpsichore by Le Sueur. The figure's unusual striped gown has a wide square neck. The chiaroscuro rendering of the drapery covering the lower half of the woman's body highlights the right knee and left thigh. However, the proportions of this figure are elongated and the knee is far too low on the body. The method of developing the drapery shapes at the right side of the drawing is curiously abstract and incremental, meaning the drapery folds are not combined convincingly. Vegetation is studied in some detail at lower right. This drawing can be compared with similar drawings in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No. l.
A drawing of a woman in a flowing headdress holding a staff in her left hand appears upside down at the top of the page. A seascape opens up behind, within which one can make out a tiny ship with billowing sails and a spiraling plume of smoke rising in the far distance. Other forms in the background are difficult to read though architectural forms appear to line the shore. On page 43, this same figure appears again, along with a seated female resting her arm on an urn. In that instance, the drawing suggests a portrait study, one related to Two Sisters contemplating on Mortality. This seems to be a case where a portrait study elides into an idea for a subject painting.
Three additional drawings are at the top of the page. Two depict standing women; one of these, with flowing drapery, is probably a dancer. The third drawing shows standing man supporting a slumping woman, a subject introduced in 28, though here reversed (see other examples in 32, 39, 40, 53, and 78).
Page 39All the drawings on this page are upside down. Three drawings (one very faint) depict a man supporting a slumping woman, as in 28, 32, 38, 40, 53, and 78. In one of the drawings, the male’s plumed helmet marks him definitively as a Roman. At the center of the page are two small studies of faces. One suggests a male, most likely the helmeted male just mentioned. (It is remarkable how adeptly the helmeted man's tiny face conveys these same features.) The other facial study, curiously, presents a slighter version of the woman shown with such clarity and detail at the center of the page in 31. The sequencing of these two female images is tantalizing; were both drawn from life at the same time? Why do they appear eight pages apart?
Eight additional drawings, varying in clarity, depict seated and standing figures. Three of these drawings, showing two women standing together, may be related to Romney’s painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. These can be compared to figures in 43. There, one of the women points at a sculpted relief, a clear connection to the theme of mortality. Two of the eight drawings depict a woman with an upraised left arm. This figure can be compared with one in a drawing in 7.
Page 40At the top of the page, upside-down, is a portrait study of two seated females in a landscape. One holds a stringed instrument, possibly a citern or mandolin. One of the figures appears to have an open book in her lap, perhaps a musical score. However, the resolution of the two figures is confusing, making it difficult to tell whose body is whose. A different treatment of this subject can be seen in 64. Though two females are represented, it would be difficult to see this grouping as a variant composition for Romney’s Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. The portrait's theme may instead be the Arts.
Below this portrait study is a man's face, turned offprofile and viewed slightly from above. This same face, in less detailed form, first appeared at the center of 39, upside down. As there, this is presumably the face of the man in a plumed helmet supporting a slumping woman, a study for which appears below this face. Opposite these two drawings, in landscape orientation, are dancing figures. This group is somewhat similar to dancers at the left in 41. See additional dancers in 17, 44, 72, and 76. A sketch of two women, upside down at bottom left echoes one of the pairs in 39. Next to this pair is a slight sketch of a woman who appears to be collapsing. Though reminiscent of a similar figure in 15, there is nevertheless no compelling reason to connect this image with that one.
Page 41A group of dancing figures occupies much of this page. One figure holds a triangle and another a tambourine. The graphite images are touched up in places with ink. These figures are most likely related to Romney's painting of Mirth, on which he was engaged in 1769. In that painting, the figure of Mirth holds a tambourine while a figure in the background holds aloft a triangle. The dancer at the right impinges upon a separate drawing, which depicts a standing figure with widespread legs. Another standing figure unrelated to the dancers is seen to the right. For other drawings with dancers see 17, 40, 44, 72, and 76.
Page 42Four drawings of a seated female nude (in two instances shown with another figure and with suggestions of a mirror) relate to the subject of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). In one of the drawings putti are included. At bottom right is a seated, partially nude female with upraised arms. Two additional drawings, one very faint, depict this same figure. A standing figure is superimposed over the faintest of these drawings.
The striding female upside down at top right is similar to a figure appearing in composition studies in 38 and 43, though in these instances no staff is visible in her left hand. (See also related figures in 34 and 35.)
To the left of the striding female, also upside down, are five sketches, some very slight, of a seated woman. In the most readable of these, the woman's left arm appears to rest on an urn, as does that of a similar figure in the composition in 43 in which the striding woman appears. For other drawings in which a woman rests her arm on an urn see 7, 21, 45, 51, and 98.
Page 43The drawing upside down at top left shows two females standing before a pedestal topped with an urn, presumably a grave monument. One of the two figures points her left arm towards a raised relief on the front of the monument (see two figures in similar poses in a drawing in 39). This is presumably a preliminary trial for Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23.) The drawing next to this likewise depicts two females, one of them with her left hand atop an urn, an obvious symbol of mortality. Therefore, this would also seem to be an idea for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality even though the second figure holds a staff, not an attribute commonly associated with the mortality theme. For other drawings in which this seated woman with an urn appears, see 7, 21, 4 5, and 51. Drawings that show the second figure holding a staff include 7, 47, 51, and 52.
A drawing upside down at the bottom of the page shows a female holding a large book. If this is meant to refer to The Book of Life, in which the names of those who will live forever are recorded, it provides another appropriate prop for a painting on the theme of mortality. For analogous drawings of a female holding a large book see 80 and 81. A large drawing of a seated woman appears in landscape orientation at the center of the page. The final drawing on the page depicts a standing female in a landscape, probably a portrait study.
Page 44Drawings of dancers, some with musical instruments, fill this page. Some images are upside down; others are in landscape orientation. As in 40, a tambourine is held aloft by some of the dancers, suggesting a connection to Romney’s painting of Mirth, on which the artist was engaged in 1769. For other groups of dancers see 17, 40, 41, 72, and 76.
Page 45At the top of the sheet, upside-down, is a drawing in a slightly flattened oval format; a woman and an infant recline at the left; to the right, an awkwardly posed figure, looking back towards the reclining woman, rushes away. Rays from the sun fan out into the sky in the middle distance. A semi-nude in flowing drapery flies through the air. Above this figure, faint lines suggest additional figures and/or clouds. This may represent Eos, i.e. Aurora, rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn who rose each morning from the river Oceanus to separate Night from Day. The inspiration is presumably an allegorical painting, perhaps one the artist saw on his trip to Paris in 1764. The unusual format suggests this may be a copy or a recollection of a painting used for wall or ceiling decoration.
A detailed, densely-shaded portrait study of two seated females, one resting her arms on an oval-shaped urn, appears on the lower half of the page. This drawing is the most finished of a group of related drawings (see also 7, 21, 43, and 51). As the urn has an obvious reference to mortality, this presumably represents an alternate staging for Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality.
An additional slight half-length sketch of a standing woman is to the left.
Page 46At right center are studies of seated females. The two at the left suggest the poses of the two sisters in 45. Upsidedown, below these figures, is a drawing of a woman in a chariot, amidst clouds above and below. The composition conforms to an oval shape, similar to that of the drawing on the previous page. If these share an allegorical theme, this could be Aurora, goddess of the dawn, this time depicted in her chariot, which was a favorite subject of Baroque artists. Romney was drawn to the work of Baroque artists of the 17th century, as recorded in the journal Thomas Greene kept of his and Romney's journey to Paris in 1764.
Page 47The composition marked out at the bottom of the page depicts two seated females. In the relaxed ease of its poses and plethora of rustling silks, it signals an attempt at portraiture in the Grand Manner. Reinforcing its seriousness of purpose is the imposing urn-topped structure, presumably a grave monument, towards which the sitters gaze. The direct allusion to mortality brings the conclusion that this is one of a number of ideas Romney tried out while working on Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. A different version of this idea, where the figures also contemplate a grave monument, can be seen in 43. For a detailed drawing with figures in analogous poses accompanied by symbols of mortality, see 45.
Above this, a less detailed drawing depicts two women in somewhat similar poses. Here, however, one of the figures holds a staff in an upraised arm. (The arm is shown in alternate renderings.) The same figure is seen in a second drawing, now placed to the right of the second figure. Here, the staff suggests a distaff. (Curiously, a distaff-holding figure will elide into a composition on an entirely different subject in 48). For related drawings, in which one of the figures holds a staff, see 7, 43, 51, and 52. The slight figure study of a seated female is probably related to these drawings.
Upside down on the page is a drawing of two seated figures, one apparently holding a mirror. This connects the image to depictions of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). The two infants nearby also probably relate to this composition.
Page 48A sketch at the bottom left recalls a similar couple in 47, a depiction of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. Here, however, the mirror is only faintly suggested. A study of a reclining female nude is adjacent to this drawing. Above these drawings, upside down on the page, are two additional depictions of a male and female, now given entirely different attributes and identities. It was common for Romney to reuse and alter figural arrangements as he moved amongst a variety of subjects in his sketchbooks. That is evident on this page. In the composition demarcated by lines, a shepherd plays his syrinx; his flock of sheep is suggested to the left. His female companion, lightly clad, holds a distaff, yam, and spindle. Such bucolic scenes were popular in the 18th century, particularly amongst French artists such as Boucher. Many such scenes derive ultimately from Daphnis and Chloe, a romance by the Greek writer Longus, assumed to have lived in the 2nd century A.D. The sunburst on the horizon in this drawing echoes a similar motif in an oval drawing in 45. Perhaps both drawings were inspired by a cycle of paintings Romney saw in Paris in 1764.
In John Romney’s list of his father's ‘Pictorial Designs and Studies’, which John Romney gave to Cambridge University in 1817, three of the designs, as he wrote in his memoir of his father, ‘are taken from the pastoral romance of Longus. It was the intention of Mr. Romney to have painted two pictures of the size of life, of which these were the studies.’ There are sketches on the subject in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 (8, 9) and RA Sketchbook No. 2 (4, 4v, 5, 5v, 6v, 7, 8, 8v, 9, 34v, and possibly additional ones). Interestingly, in the RA sketchbook, the drawings of Daphnis and Chloe are immediately followed by drawings of Rinaldo and Armida. This shows the same fusion of subject matter that takes place here. For another treatment of this subject, see 49. A faint sketch of a woman's torso appears upside down at center right.
Page 49At the bottom left is a drawing related to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's Enchanted Garden. In the upper part of the page, upside down, are two studies of figures from the pastoral composition in 48. The remaining drawings on this sheet are studies of figures in a variety of poses. The lumpish figures at mid-page contrast strongly with the slender figures below.
Page 50Five drawings on this page are related to the subject of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's enchanted Garden (see note on 22).
The composition drawing at center left represents Perseus Freeing Andromeda, a subject that Romney pursued in a large number of drawings in this sketchbook. A drawing of a nude female in 22 may be the first drawing on the theme; the rest are clustered together on this page and pages following (see 51-63). It is unusual in this sketchbook to find drawings on the same subject so closely concentrated. The basic composition depicts a bound nude woman being rescued by a man in classical apparel. In some drawings, as here, additional figures appear. These are presumably Cepheus, Andromeda’s grateful father, and an attendant. Cepheus, in Greek legend, was king of Ethiopia. His queen, Cassiopeia, had boasted that her beauty was equal to that of the Nereids. This drew a swift response from Poseidon, who flooded the land and let loose a sea serpent, which ravaged the kingdom. The oracle of Zeus proclaimed that no relief could be hoped for until the king exposed his daughter to the sea monster. Thus Andromeda was fastened to a rock on the shore. When Perseus appeared, he slew the monster and subsequently married Andromeda although she had previously been betrothed to her uncle Phineas. (For drawings that may relate to another phase of the Perseus and Andromeda legend, see 35, 36, and 37.)
Page 51At the top of the page is a study for Perseus Freeing Andromeda (see 50). Here, Perseus as well as the background to the right have been filled in and shaded. At bottom left is a figure study of Perseus and Andromeda. At mid-page is a reclining female, which echoes those in 50. At top left is a sketch too faint to decipher.
At bottom right is a portrait study of two females in a landscape setting. The right arm of the seated woman rests atop an oval urn, a symbol of mortality; the standing figure holds a staff. Compare this to drawings in 7, 21, 43, 45, 47, 51, 52, and 104. Romney is either experimenting here with a variant composition for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality or exploring a concept for a different double portrait.
Page 52Two drawings of a pair of women at the center of the page are probably related to Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23). The figures stand side by side as in the painting, although here they are shown fulllength. Below these drawings is a composition marked off on the page showing figures in a landscape setting. One figure sits; the second stands, holding a staff. (A figure in a similar pose, also holding a staff, appears in 38.) A very faint, indeed scarcely visible, sketch of the same composition appears at upper left. This is echoed in an equally slight drawing upside down at top right in 89.
A faint drawing at top right depicts a seated nude, possibly Andromeda (see similar drawings in 54). The final drawing on the page shows a seated man, perhaps holding a staff, accompanied by a kneeling woman.
Page 53Two drawings at the bottom of the page and one at the top depict Perseus Freeing Andromeda. Here, Andromeda is seated, thrusting backwards, rather than standing as she is in 50 and 51. Perseus rests his right knee on a rock. A faint sketch just below the middle of the page also depicts Andromeda. At mid-page right is a drawing of a man struggling with a woman, which harks back to figure studies in 28, 32, 38, 39 and 40, as well as 78. With magnification, the scramble of lines to the right of the pair can be seen to represent horsemen brandishing shields, i.e. a battle scene. This subject probably relates to Tarquin and Lucretia, a subject from Roman history. Unlike other of Romney’s drawings of this pair in the sketchbook, this particular one depicts Lucretia as very much alive and struggling with her attacker. Her fist is clenched, and a faint line may suggest her dagger. (Subsequent to her rape by Tarquin, Lucretia committed suicide by stabbing herself.) Barrow Sketchbook No. 1 has similar drawings of a woman struggling with a man, in which the dagger is visible (63, 69, 77) as well as drawings which show her slumping in his arms (66,73,79).
This page includes five detailed facial studies. The topmost one shows a thoughtful woman in near profile, her chin and the lower part of her face darkly shaded. This drawing appears unrelated to other drawings on the page. Behind this drawing, another profile has been scratched out. Below is a closely observed face of a woman with upturned eyes and slightly open mouth. This mouth is studied in two additional drawings. It is quite possible these three drawings are studies for Andromeda.
Page 54This page has eight studies of Andromeda in a seated pose, as in 53. In one of the drawings, the figure of Perseus is shown.
Page 55All the drawings on this page depict Perseus Freeing Andromeda. At the bottom of the page, within a rectangle marked off by lines, the subject is shown in some detail. Andromeda is seated on rocks, her bound arms raised above her head. In contrast to similar studies in 53 as well as here, Perseus appears to the left of Andromeda. All parts of the composition study are filled with shading to indicate rocks, sea, mountains, and sky. One of the drawings contains an alternate study for Perseus and shows Andromeda standing rather than sitting.
Page 56Five studies of the nude Andromeda appear at the bottom. At the top are two of Andromeda with Perseus. In one, Perseus is at the right of Andromeda; in the other he is on the left. The artist is actively experimenting with elements of his composition.
Page 57 A detailed drawing on the lower half of this page explores the composition of Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The composition is reversed from its initial configuration in 50 and 51. Here, Perseus is at the left; the bearded, crowned King and a kneeling figure are shown to the right. Andromeda is shown in a pose intermediate. between sitting and standing. This is the most detailed composition for the subject seen thus far in the sketchbook. However, there is a discordant element in that Andromeda's head is unnaturally small in relation to her arms.
A less detailed version of the subject is at the top. Three additional figures are indicated to the right. Two slight studies of Andromeda appear above mid-page, both of them infringed upon by adjacent drawings. The final drawing, upside-down on the page, is unrelated to Perseus and Andromeda. It depicts a young woman sporting an unusual hairdo, which is piled high at the sides and parted in the center.
Page 58Two drawings for Perseus Freeing Andromeda echo the compositional scheme in 57, though here Andromeda's right leg supports her weight. In the study at the top of the page, upside down, the king and the kneeling figure have been joined by additional figures. Two additional sketches of Andromeda appear on the page.
Page 59Three drawings, upside down on the page, plus a very faint additional sketch of Andromeda, relate to Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The composition includes a kneeling figure to the right; plus, in one case, additional figures. In the drawing at the bottom of the page, the figure of the king is cut off at the margin. In two of the drawings, Andromeda’s right arm is upraised, still bound, while her left one is held by the kneeling figure. This differs from a number of earlier drawings in the series, which show her with both arms bound. In these drawings, as in 58, Andromeda stands erect. In the drawing topmost on the page, viewed right side up, a form to the left of Perseus may give a faint suggestion of the vanquished dragon, with its lolling tongue, staring eye, and arching brow.
Page 60Three drawings, upside-down, are all studies for Perseus Freeing Andromeda. In one of these, figures to the right of the couple can be discerned (compare with 57).
Page 61All five drawings on this page, only two of them right side up, are related to the subject of Perseus Freeing Andromeda. In two of the drawings, Andromeda is unnaturally small in relation to Perseus. One very faint sketch depicts the kneeling figure seen in earlier drawings of the composition (see 57). Another very faint sketch at bottom left shows the outspread arms of the king and gives a suggestion of his body.
Page 62This page has eight sketches, of varying clarity, relating to the subject of Perseus Freeing Andromeda (see note on 50). The drawing upside down at top right is unusual in that, for the first time, Andromeda is drawn from the back. Three additional figure studies, two of them adopting this same pose, are nearby. At mid-page are two sketches of the kneeling figure, seen more clearly in 57, as well as very slight sketches of the king and, possibly, Andromeda.
While Romney continues to explore the Perseus and Andromeda theme here, his concentration on this subject is beginning to waver. For example, a drawing at mid-page right is a portrait study of two seated females (compare with 47). The subject matter of three other drawings at the bottom of the page is elusive. One is too faint to decipher; a second shows a seated couple; a third depicts a standing woman, possibly holding a tambourine. This last could be a preliminary study for Mirth, a painting Romney was working on in 1769. It fits in generically with other drawings of dancers in the sketchbook (see, for example, 44).
Page 63
The nine drawings on this page mix together ideas for subject pictures and portrait studies, as was common with Romney. At lower left is the final drawing in the sketchbook depicting Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The poses are similar to those first adopted in 53. Above this drawing is a study for Romney s Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, depicted here full-length. This drawing, with shading employed on costume and background, is more fully worked up than other similar drawings in the sketchbook (see 23, 73, 75, 77, 88, 100 and 102). At the top of the page, is a study for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). A second, less detailed, study for this subject as well as a partial figure study of Armida appear below midpage. Below mid-page at right is a highly anomalous but very interesting tiny sketch. It depicts the face, neck and shoulder of a man with tousled curls, whose most striking characteristic is a long, tapering moustache. His large eyes give him a piercing gaze. The moustache is one Nicholas Hilliard could have sported at the court of Elizabeth I, or that of a late 19th-century dandy, but it seems wholly out of context in the 18th century. How this singular image found its way into the sketchbook is curious, to say the least. It would be tempting to suspect the intervention of another hand but difficult to imagine how and when such could have occurred. Perhaps this is instead a fleeting image garnered from a print. Sketches of a striding figure, a seated couple, and a seated woman complete the drawings on the page.
Page 64The female playing a stringed instrument in a drawing at top left echoes a similar figure in 40. In both of these compositions, a second female is depicted with a large book, perhaps a musical score. In this instance the book is supported on a pedestal. Below this group is a standing woman in contrapposto holding what appears to be a bow (see a similar figure, combined with additional figures, in 34). To the right is another standing female whose ample breasts and bulging belly suggest pregnancy; however, this may simply result from an awkward rendering of the image.
Three drawings at the bottom depict a man seizing a woman and raising her off the ground. The profusion of rushing lines gives an energy and immediacy to the sketches. A violent scene of abduction, this brings to mind The Rape of the Sabine Women as sculpted by Giambologna and painted by Poussin and others, which Romney would no doubt have known through prints. At the same time, one of Poussin’s two versions of the Rape of the Sabine Women was in the Royal Collections in Paris, where Romney might have familiarized himself with the subject. In addition, the Duke of Richmond's cast gallery had figures and a relief relating to Giambologna's sculpture, which Romney would have seen. Four drawings upside down on the page are also related to this tumultuous subject, and additional related drawings can be seen in 65, 66, and 67. These struggling figures in violent action are very different in character from somewhat analogous drawings in the sketchbook showing a man supporting a slumping woman, e.g. 2 and others. Romney was fully capable of adapting similar poses to very different subjects in a continuous evolution of motifs.
Page 65Five drawings of figures in violent action suggest the Rape of the Sabine Women (see also 64, 66, and 67). The couple seen in three drawings at the bottom of 64 is now included within a larger group. The profusion of jumbled lines here, however, does not convey the figures as skillfully as the drawings in 64, which must have been done with a closer eye on the artist's source. Romney has had problems integrating the struggling couple into a larger group. Two additional sketches of seated figures on the page are unrelated to the Rape of the Sabine Women theme.
Page 66
In addition to two drawings of the Rape of the Sabine Women, this page has three studies of a carefully shaded female head (the largest drawn over the upper part of a male nude). These are presumably studies for the head of the woman being abducted in the drawing to the right. Though the woman's calm, resigned expression seems unsuited to expressing the agony of a potential rape victim, it conveys something of the stoic resolve of Poussin’s classical manner. Similar facial expressions on faces of the rape victims in Poussin’s Louvre version of the Rape of the Sabine Women may mark that painting (or a print of the same) as the source here. See additional drawings related to the Rape of the Sabine Women, in 64, 65, and 67. Elegantly calligraphic S-shaped curves are employed to strike out faint images at the right.
Page 67Two drawings with numerous figures as well as three additional figure studies are related to the Rape of the Sabine Women. As in drawings on this subject in 65 and 66, Romney has not been completely successful here in conveying the actions of the energetic couples originally presented in 64, where violent physical movements were so vividly portrayed.
Page 68Romney's concentration on violent scenes of abduction and rape comes to an abrupt stop here, with the artist providing a complete change of pace. A single large landscape drawing, presented sideways, fills this page. This landscape is simple in its elements: A dark sea laps against an indented shore. A large, sloping hill rises up at the right. From a dark sky filled with billowing clouds, slanted lines strike the hill, suggesting rain. This view was recently identified as Whitbarrow Scar from Levens village, Kendal. Though the artist's focus was seldom on landscapes as such, except as backgrounds for his portraits, Romney was highly sensitive to the grandeur of nature. His vivid description of the landscape he encountered on an excursion to the Isle of Wight demonstrates this: ‘The sudden appearance of the sea, and rocky scenery struck me more forcibly than anything of the kind, I had ever seen before’ (letter quoted in William Hayley’s life of Romney, p. 217).
Page 69Two drawings in opposite orientation to one another depict the same composition, showing three figures in a landscape; a figure to the left, resting its right arm on a pier (or a club?) and supporting its chin, looks towards two standing women to the right, one of whom points to the sky, where (in one of the drawings) a figure, or figures, appear amidst clouds. In the background of the second drawing, a group of dancing figures appears.
At the top of the page, upside down, a standing figure viewed from the back is probably also related to this composition. The subject is plausibly The Choice of Hercules. The pensive Hercules (though it is difficult to make out his club amidst the draperies) looks towards Virtue and Vice, each of whom tries to tempt him to follow her lead. Vice points towards the dancers and the enticements of worldly pleasure. Virtue, on the other hand, points towards the heavens, and the promised luster of lasting glory to be achieved through great deeds. This subject, which derives from Xenophon’s Memorabilia, was earlier depicted by Carracci, Poussin, and many others. Sir Joshua Reynolds employed the allegory in staging his humorous rendering of Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy, which was exhibited in 1762 at the Society of Artists and which Romney would surely have known. In this instance, the artist plays it straight, employing the subject in its usual allegorical guise rather than using it as a conceit for staging a portrait. Benjamin West did the same in his 1764 painting of The Choice of Hercules between Virtue and Pleasure (Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 40-1886).
A different subject is featured upside down at the top of the page in a drawing depicting a reclining couple in a landscape setting. It has some similarity to a composition in 46 and 48 though poses and attributes of the couple differ. Additional figures, perhaps putti, are at the right. (A line marking the left border of this composition crosses over another faint image of the seated woman.)
A final drawing on this page appears upside down at center left. Though minuscule, the face of this woman is surprisingly explicit. It is reminiscent of the larger and more detailed study of a female in 31 though here the nose is a straight line and the protruding upper lip is not in evidence, giving the figure a more classical impersonality. The modest contemporary dress of the figure in 31 has become soft drapery which clings to, when it doesn't directly expose, the woman's breasts. This small, incisive drawing is presumably intended as a study for the central figure in the composition next to it. As is often the case in Romney's drawings, certain images, e.g. that seen in 31, adumbrate later ones. Motifs and specific images are set down by the artist within new settings as his creativity courses through his sketchbooks. A remembered type, studied from a model that made a strong impression on the artist, appears again, separated by many pages from its first appearance (see also 95).
Page 70This page contains five graphite studies of women. One of the figures in the center is depicted descending stairs, the same staging seen, for example, in 72 and 102. The poses used in these figures at the center of the page create types that the artist used in such portraits as Mrs. Thomas Scott Jack son and Mrs. Henry Verelst. A sixth drawing, upside down at the bottom of the page uses red chalk as the medium. It depicts a seated woman whose bent leg rests on a block-like support.
Page 71Drawings appear on this page in a mixture of orientations. Beneath an unintelligible scribble at the top of the page are four drawings of reclining figures. One is female; the other three are male. The next drawings amidst this grab bag of images are two studies of elderly bearded men, one of whom appears to support a large book on his knee. This figure may possibly be related to a similar figure, in reverse, in the lunette in 78. The second male figure, set off within a rectangle, looks upward and supports his head with his left hand. Three dancers with billowing draperies come next. The central dancer is particularized by her dress, in a manner unusual in this sketchbook. Her Greek chiton suggests the influence of a classical or Quattrocento source. The final three drawings are of a kneeling figure and two standing nudes. One of them supports draperies with an upraised arm. One wonders if these could be sketches the artist set down as he pored over his collection of prints.
Page 72A large, but sketchy drawing of dancing figures appears upside down on the upper half of the page. These suggest the dancers in the bacchanalian relief seen in the background of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 73). The possibility that this drawing is related to that painting is strengthened by the appearance on this page of other sketches with a more obvious connection. Below, in a rectangular format, is a fulllength portrait study of two women, one descending stairs. Another study for these figures appears at bottom right; and see also drawings in 73, and 77. In this composition, one female faces the other and points a finger at her.
Page 73Drawings of two striding females, which began in 23, continue here and in the following: 74, 75, 77, 88, 89, 91, 100, 102 and 103. All may be connected to Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Most of the drawings depict full-length figures instead of the half-length ones the artist opted for in the finished painting.
The other three drawings on the page should be compared with the composition drawing of two females in 72. This is a possible variant of the Two Sisters composition, one in which the two women face each other. Two of the sketches here suggest that a third figure is present; however, this is probably an alternate rendering of the figure to the left. Romney apparently experimented with a number of different compositional arrangements in staging his portrait of these two sisters.
Page 74The composition marked out within a rectangle can presumably be tied to drawings for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden though the ungainly shape the male reaches towards does not much resemble a mirror and his face is not directed towards the female's. At the left side, this drawing impinges upon a sketch of a male standing with legs apart.
At the bottom of the page are two pairs of striding figures. In this case it is more of a stretch to connect them to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. It is doubtful that the half-draped figure in the center is connected to the other figures, but, in any case, the whole group of drawings presents a puzzle. A faint sketch of a seated woman in profile at bottom center is impinged upon by the drawing to its right.
Page 75The three figures towards the top of the page depict Rinaldo and his companions from Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6 and also 20 23, 34, 80, 81, 93, and possibly 24). Drawings on this subject are widely spaced in the sketchbook. Clearly, it was a topic that obsessed the artist and which he kept returning to. Besides Rinaldo and Armida, Romney may have dealt with other lovers featured in Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata. For example, a drawing from a later period apparently depicting Tancred and Erminia is in the Detroit Institute of Arts (see Jean Wallis, ‘The Mind and Soul of Romney's Art and the Poussin Connection’ Transactions of the Romney Society, Vol. 4, 1999). The drawing of two standing women suggests the poses of the women in 72. A slight drawing of a seated woman in profile is to the right. Compare this to a drawing at bottom center in 63.
Page 76Several sketches, some very faint, depict dancing figures with flowing draperies. As with 72, it is possible these are preparatory sketches for the bacchanalian relief in Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see other drawings of dancers in 17, 40, 41 and 44). Aimless, meandering scribbles appear above mid-page.
Page 77Three drawings of a pair of females here reflect the poses of the figures in the composition in 72, in which the figures stand on a stairway and the two figures face each other. As there, the woman to the left points her index finger at the second woman. In the two drawings at the bottom of the page, however, both women appear less confrontational as they progress together. Their poses have some similarity to those in Romney's painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality as seen in the Robert Dunkarton mezzotint (see 23). In the center of the page is a seated figure, leaning back, right arm extended.
Page 78Drawings appear upside down and sideways on the page. Two depict the helmeted man and slumping woman seen in many earlier drawings (see 28, 32, 38, 39, 40 and 53). In this instance, the woman's collapse is more pronounced as she bends straight back from the waist, insensate or perhaps even dead. Barrow Sketchbook No. 1 has numerous pen and ink drawings on this subject, and there are drawings also in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 (see specifically 22v).
Within a lunette at the left of the page, in landscape orientation, is an entirely new subject. Lightly sketched putti appear to the left. Next comes a seated figure wearing a gown and helmet. She supports a shield with her right hand and the staff of a flag with her left. That this figure is plausibly Athena is strengthened by the presence of a roundel on her bosom, presumably the roundel of Medusa, which is traditionally featured on the goddess’s aegis. Athena leans against a lightly sketched oval form that, although very faint, suggests a framed landscape. Behind this, a pedestal topped by a sculpture separates the Athena figure from a bulky, bearded male holding a large book or tablet. At this figure's knee, a putto, viewed from behind, stands cross-legged as he turns a globe resting on a square support. A second sketch of this putto appears above. This is an evolved allegorical composition, which Romney presumably copied from a source, perhaps one in Paris. Upside down at the top of the page is a group of four figures which may or may not belong together. The intended subject has not been identified.
Page 79Upside-down at the center of the page are two forceful drapery studies of the lower portion of a figure, suggesting Terpsichore (see note on 19. There is a faint suggestion of a triangle suspended from the figure's left hand; see also 16 and 38). The heavy hatching of the drapery is meant to model the figure but is unsystematic since the source of light is imperfectly indicated. A
drawing of a standing woman appears at the bottom of the page.
Page 80Upside down and covering the top half of this sheet is a composition depicting a reluctant male being urged towards a boat by two companions. He gazes behind him up in the body of a supine female with raised right leg. This depicts Rinaldo abandoning Armida. This subject is depicted in a number of drawings spread widely through the sketchbook (see also 6, 20, 23, 34, 75, 81, 93 and, possibly, 24). Romney was random in his approach, and the sequencing of drawings within this sketchbook is no guarantee as to when each was made. This drawing is no more complete or detailed than any of the earlier treatments of the theme, and less so than some. At the bottom of the page are four sketches of females one carrying a closed, another an open, book (see also 43 and 81.)
Page 81At lower left is the same female carrying a large book we saw in 80 (see also 43). Also repeated from 80, in reverse, is Rinaldo abandoning Armida. Here, the woman is hugely out of scale with the figures heading towards the boat. The boat and its boatmen are visible at the right. Two additional, very faint, sketches of figures related to this composition appear above and to the left of the composition drawing.
Page 82At top right is a composition drawing for The Warren Family which Romney completed by the end of April 1769. Though the composition here is close to that in the completed painting (see also a drawing in 96), it is clear that Romney is still experimenting with the poses of the figures, as a drawing of these same three figures at bottom right attests. If three faint drawings on this page of a seated man and woman are also related to the The Warren Family, they would be the only ones in this sketchbook which show both father and mother seated. However, given their similarity to drawings in 83, they probably represent a different subject.
To the left side of the page, in landscape orientation, are three drawings of Danae. Great care is taken in the modeling of the nude figure. This is the first time Romney has dealt with this subject in the sketchbook. The most detailed of these drawings shows the figure leaning back against rolled pillows and extending her left arm towards the golden shower (not indicated here). At this stage of Romney’s career, drawings of female nudes must be assumed to be derived from sculptures, paintings, or prints and to be intended for inclusion in subject paintings. Later, when in Rome, the artist would study the nude from life.
Page 83This sheet depicts subjects seen in 82. Once again, the bifurcation of subject matter mirrors Romney's dilemma: his need to paint portraits to earn his daily bread despite his determination to excel in the higher category of history painting.
The two portrait studies at the top of the page depict the same two seated figures that appear in three sketches in 82. At mid-page, in landscape orientation, the Danae figure seen in 82 appears in a composition set off within lines. In this instance, a cloud above the nude figure indicates the golden shower in which Zeus appeared to Danae. The figure with outspread arms at the left provides a particularly energetic interpretation of Danae's attendant. Jean-Baptiste Greuze gave an equally prominent focus to the handmaiden in an unfinished painting now in the Louvre (M.1.1068), which dates from 1760-70. In that painting the composition is reversed, with the attendant standing at the right, in front of the goddess's couch. Romney dined with Greuze during his visit to Paris in 1790, and it is also possible he met the artist during his visit to Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764, when he could have seen and been inspired by Greuze's interpretation of this subject.
Page 84In contrast to the lunette drawing in 78, the subject in this particular lunette can be identified. The drawing depicts Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). Romney was either copying a work he saw in the same format or is designing his own composition for placement within a lunette. The latter seems unlikely as Romney was at no stage in his career hired as a painter of decorative interiors. Therefore, it is intriguing that he used the lunette framework for a number of drawings in succession. This drawing captures the intent of Tasso's verse; the seated Armida looks towards the mirror as the enthralled Rinaldo gazes into Armida's face (his left arm is studied twice). In contrast, the drawing to the right of this one, also in landscape orientation, places Rinaldo beneath Armida in a position from which it would be difficult to stare upwards into her face. However, this drawing reflects Domenichino's rendering of the subject. Two studies of Rinaldo appear beneath this drawing.
The remaining drawings, if viewed in landscape orientation, present a series of three images cascading down the page. Seen together they give a dramatic illustration of Romney's tendency to make split-second elisions from one subject to another. The first drawing suggests Venus, seen from the back, straining to restrain Adonis from leaving on the hunt; there is even a suggestion of Adonis' spear (see Romney's copy of Titian's painting in 16). A second similar drawing, in which the Adonis figure now appears to be seated, impinges upon a third drawing in which Adonis has
become Rinaldo, thrusting out a mirror as he leans against Armida.
Page 85The three drawings on this page relate to the theme of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). In the uppermost drawing, inscribed within a lunette, three putti are depicted, one of which lifts up the mirror. Oddly, although the figure to the left is presented through an unruly pattern of lines and is thus difficult to decipher, it appears to have breasts and wears a gown instead of a tunic, as in another depiction of Rinaldo on the page. Perhaps the artist intended to switch the positions of Rinaldo and Armida. As it stands, the image is confusing.
Page 86
This sheet evokes Paris. The faint drawing at upper right suggests, in reverse, the Pieta by Nicolas Coustou behind the high altar in Notre Dame, Paris. Romney and Greene visited Notre Dame on September 19th and 27th 1764. A drawing at the bottom of the page depicts a large group of people including a small child gathered around a commanding figure, presumably Christ, gesturing with his right hand. These figures may reference figures from Jean Jouvenet's The Resurrection of Lazarus, one of the paintings that Greene’s journal mentions he and Romney saw in the church of Saint Martin-des-Champs in Paris on September 22nd. Confiscated from this former church during the Revolution, this painting is now in the Louvre (Inv. No. 5489). While in Paris, Romney could have purchased an engraving of this painting by Jean Audran and thus have had it available in later years in London. Another group of figures from this painting is referenced in drawings in Courtauld Sketchbook No. 1, which dates from c. 1770 (e.g. 11 and 26).
The most detailed drawing on this page is a study of a young woman with pouty lips and nearly closed eyes. It conveys something of the seductive insouciance of females depicted by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. If Romney did, in fact, have this sketchbook with him in Paris, this drawing may reflect a work he saw there by Greuze. Conversely, it could register the influence of a print after Greuze, in which case it could have been done some years after the 1764 visit. The figure's hairstyle, with its soft curls framing the face and the characteristic headband, signal the influence of Greuze. Also, Greuze favored an oval format in many of his paintings of seductive females, and an oval is suggested here by the background shading describing a curve at the right side of the drawing. In addition, the figure's low-cut dress and the partial exposure of the right breast (emphasized by delicate shading) further locate this image within Greuze's manner.
The drawing within the lunette is connected to other drawings depicting Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see particularly 84, 85, 87, and 88). As in 85, a standing putto raises the mirror. Also as in 85, the identification of the subject is clouded by the fact that ‘Rinaldo’ is a winsome figure clothed in long draperies, thus giving the impression of being female.
Page 87
Three drawings for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden appear in landscape orientation, two within a lunette format. One of the drawings includes putti to the right. (Refer also to 84, 85, 86, and 88).
Page 88
Two drawings in landscape orientation depict Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. One of these is set within a faintly indicated lunette. A standing figure in a gown with a large sash tied at the back appears sideways at upper left. Upside down at the top of the page is a drawing of a pair of striding females similar to those in 77, studies for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality.
A tiny thumbnail portrait study at bottom right depicts a seated woman and standing infant. Four less detailed drawings, variants of this subject, are arrayed around the thumbnail.
Page 89
Four drawings, filling most of the page, relate to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). At the top of the page, upside down at the left, is a faint sketch of two standing figures very similar to those in a portrait composition in 72. To the right of that drawing, also upside down, is an extremely faint composition depicting a standing figure along with a seated one. Compare this to a very similar drawing in 52. Both of these compositions may have some relation to ideas Romney was working on for his painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, in that they focus on two females. However, they have nothing to do with the painting as eventually realized. As with most such studies in the sketchbook, the figures are shown full length, rather than half-length as in the painting.
Page 90
Upside down at the top of the page are two drawings of a seated female. The figure shares the contrapposto of the seated figures in 16, 19, 39 and 79, but in these drawings the left arm extends outwards. A very faint sketch of a seated figure, viewed from behind and leaning backwards, appears between these drawings. Beneath these drawings, also upside down, is a landscape drawing in black chalk. Very reductive in its form, it depicts heavily shaded trees silhouetted against a more lightly sketched sky and clouds.
Page 91
A strike through of the black chalk landscape on the facing page is present here. This page has six studies of standing females. Five depict a single figure, in one instance resting her right elbow on an urn, an allusion to mortality. The sixth drawing, which includes a second female, bears some similarity, in reverse, to a pair of females in 23, presumably the first instance in the sketchbook of a drawing related to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Additional similar drawings are seen in 73 and 77. Here, the figures are shown half rather than full-length.
Page 92
At the left, a figure in a long gown presides at an altar from which smoke rises. This is the only such image in the sketchbook. Unless Romney is creating a startling fusion of subject matter, this should be regarded as a discrete subject, unrelated to the group on the same plane at the right, which depicts several figures standing behind a woman with bowed head. This group can be compared with figures in 31. If connected to the figures in 31 instead of to the figure at the altar, the subject would be The Accusation of Susannah (see also 25 and 99). Romney dealt with this subject in a number of drawings in other sketchbooks, among them Courtauld Sketchbook No. l, datable to around 1770 (e.g. 1v, 2, 24v, 25v, 26, 30v, 34v, 35v, 36, 36v, 38v and 40v). He also made drawings and at least one painting on The Accusation of Susannah after his return from Italy.
Page 93
Upside down on the page is a large composition drawing for Rinaldo abandoning Armida. This is a rare example in this sketchbook of the artist using an entire page for one drawing. The muscular anatomy of the male figures is rendered more clearly here than in other drawings on the subject (see 6, 20, 23, 24, 28, 34, 75, 80, and 81).
Page 94
On the top half of the page is a large, though faint, drawing of a standing woman. Two locks of the woman's fashionable upswept hairdo are accented by dark shading. The woman’s outspread arms with upturned palms, an unusually active gesture, make it difficult to regard this as a portrait study. Superimposed on this drawing is a ghost image of the standing woman appearing in 95. A man's eyes, nose, and prominent mouth appear in a very small drawing at upper right. The blank eyes, fleshy nose, and stern, full mouth suggest this was studied from a classical cast or print. A rather faint, but extremely sensitive and graceful study of a hand issuing from a frilly cuff, appears at mid-page (compare this to other drawings of hands in 1 and 27). Convincing renderings of hands were essential to a portrait painter's craft.
Page 95
A large profile drawing of a standing woman occupies the center of the page. Another slight sketch of this woman is below at left. This figure's straight, thin nose and parted lips, recall the female figure in 31 and her pose has similarities to the standing woman in a group of figures in 92, all of which may relate this drawing to The Accusation of Susannah. At the left are three drawings of a seated figure with its right hand on its forehead. The drawings are difficult to decipher, but the one in the center allows us to discern that a second figure leans against the first, draping its left arm over that figure's
knees. Very faint ghost images of two ink drawings in 96 can be discerned on this page.
Page 96
Two brown ink drawings of landscape fragments come as a surprise. The first landscape, sideways at top left, consists of craggy rocks and mountains. The second, at lower right, depicts a round-arched bridge behind which is the oversized base of an architectural feature supporting a strange column-like form attached to a fragmentary wall with a small window. The road across the bridge appears to dead-end at a craggy form at the right. Fields, buildings, and a mountain are in the distance. These drawings were no doubt inspired by Italianate landscapes, and the crosshatching methods employed indicate a print source. (See a much different landscape with an arched bridge in 29.)
In landscape orientation at the left is a graphite composition drawing of The Warren Family. Though less detailed than the study in 82, to which it is similar, it comes even closer to mirroring the composition of the final painting in that Lady Warren's right arm is extended downward rather than crossed over her lap. It would be fitting if the sketch that most closely presents the compositional arrangement of the painting were the last one of the series of preliminary studies in the sketchbook. However, it needs to be considered whether or not a difficult-to-read sketch on page 99 should also be regarded as a study for The Warren Family.
Page 97A small graphite drawing depicts a half-length female, right arm bent at the waist. The figure's left arm extends downward, its index finger touching what appears to be a skull. The presence of a skull obviously suggests a vanitas theme. In paintings of Mary Magdalene, the saint is often shown contemplating a skull. At a much later period Romney painted Emma Hamilton as a Magdalene. This image stands alone in the sketchbook although it reinforces the fact that Romney and many of his colleagues shared a fascination during this period with themes of melancholy and mortality, an interest that provided the basis for the artist's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (1767) and Melancholy (1770).
To the right, sideways on the page, is a pen and brown ink drawing of a round tower with a complicated profile, widening as it descends. Beside it are juxtaposed two similarly-complicated architectural forms. This is not a unified drawing but, rather, a study of separate fragments, an architectural fantasy of brobdingnagian proportions.
Page 98Only one drawing on this page is right side up. The others are in landscape orientation or upside down. Two portrait studies marked off within rectangles depict a woman with arms resting on a stone ball or urn (see an analogous figure in 7). Two drawings of young women, one wearing a lacy cap, may be portrait studies or ideas for genre paintings. A faint facial study is set down between these two. Two drawings of standing females reflect casual observation of gesture and movement as seen earlier as in 13. Less marked in this regard is a third standing figure to the right of these.
At top left, upside down, a figural grouping shows a figure leaning against a chair. A small child standing on a table reaches towards this figure; two additional figures stand behind. The liveliness and complicated arrangement of this scene suggest a group portrait in the manner of a conversation piece. This is the only drawing in the sketchbook to depict this particular group. To the right of this is a drawing of a standing male nude, hands clasped
and head bowed.
Page 99Upside down at the top of the page is a vague sketch, probably a portrait study. The two figures at the right are close in pose to those of Lady Warren and her daughter in 82. A curved line in the background may suggest the Colosseum, as seen in the painting. It is difficult to discern whether or not lines at the left in the composition are intended to describe a standing figure; if so, this would be Sir George Warren. If this sketch is indeed meant to be a study for The Warren Family, it revisits the compositional solution arrived at in 96, which mirrors that of the finished painting.
Five drawings of female nudes, two marked off within rectangles, fill much of the page. Most likely depicting Venus, two of the drawings include putti. One of the drawings appears to include a second figure standing behind the seated nude.
Two powerful drawings depict the same two old men in long robes seen in 31. These are presumably Susannah's accusers from The Accusation of Susannah (see also 25, 31, and 92). The emphatic hand gesture of one of the men is rendered with impressive economy. (The two men can be compared to those on the subject in Courtauld Sketchbook No. l, in particular 40v.)
Page 100All the drawings on this page are upside down. Seated females are depicted in five sketches near the top of the page. In two of these, the figures play stringed instruments (compare with 40, 64, and 103). In another of the drawings, a woman rests an arm on a table that supports an oval object (perhaps an urn). The next row of images includes a detailed study after some version of Venus and Adonis (see also 16). Here, instead of being shown from the back sitting on her couch, Venus rises up to grasp Adonis around the waist. This is a free interpretation of the subject as canonically painted by Titian. Next to this is a half-length of a woman wearing a dark cloak over her gown, posed against a landscape. The index finger of her extended left arm points downward, evocative of a similar detail in Romney's Elizabeth, Lady Blunt (see note on 24).
Two pairs of standing females at mid-page may relate to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23). Another petite drawing depicts a striding woman clad in tiny high-heeled shoes, a full skirt, and a fashionable hat worn at a tilt. A drawing at bottom left
depicts a seated couple with a slight similarity to figures in 48, though in this instance minus distaff and flute. A final portrait study at bottom right depicts a woman sitting at a harpsichord. She is accompanied by a standing figure that has been crossed through with repeated lines.
Page 101At the bottom of the page are two seated female nudes right arms raised to the head. At mid-page, upside down, is a bold, but clumsy, drawing of a seated figure, left arm raised. Scattered on the page are four figure studies of seated and standing women, which appear to be variants of one another. In one of the drawings, upside down at top right, the woman holds a parasol. In some of his studies for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, originating in sketchbooks now disassembled, Romney used a parasol as a prop, although there is otherwise nothing to suggest that this drawing is related to that subject. Upside down below the middle of the page is a delicate outline drawing of a woman's face and neck, somewhat similar in expression to the woman depicted in 31, though this drawing lacks the detail and finesse of that example. Behind this image, dark lines are superimposed on the forehead of an awkwardly drawn profile.
Page 102All the drawings on the page are upside down. The most impressive is a portrait study of a statuesque female in a pose that echoes, in reverse, that of Mrs. Henry Verelst, a full-length portrait dating from c.1771. The statuesque pose is emphasized by the device of having the figure descend a flight of stairs, placing the viewer in an inferior position, thus magnifying the grandeur of the personage depicted. The flowing drapery, highlighted and flattened against the figure's right thigh to stress the sculptural weight of the figure, further increases its palpability and, in this, goes far beyond the single figure thumbnail portrait studies earlier in the sketchbook. This drawing, with its sculptural quality differs greatly from roughly contemporaneous drawings for Melancholy, seen in 14. As much as anything, the stylistic divergence results from the difference in media: graphite vs. pen and ink. Nonetheless, this drawing is a throwback to a drawing style more prevalent a few years earlier. If it is, as it seems, a study for the Verelst portrait, this tiny drawing can establish the end date for the active use of the sketchbook as 1771. Two drawings, one very faint, depicting pairs of females may be related to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see 23). Two additional very slight sketches on the page are difficult to read.
Page 103All drawings on this page are upside down. Seven drawings, a number of them difficult to decipher, employ the medium of red chalk. One is a thumbnail portrait study depicting a half-length standing female against a shaded background. This may be a record of Romney’s portrait of Mrs. Mary Hunt, c. 1769. The others depict standing and seated females. In two of the drawings the figure plays a stringed instrument (see also 40, 64, and 100). One drawing of two females in black chalk is perhaps related to Romney's painting of Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Black chalk squiggles appear at the bottom of the page.
Page 104All the drawings here are upside down. On the lower half of the page is a large black chalk drawing of the head of Chrysippus, the Greek Stoic philosopher (see note on 1). The source of light, striking from the front, is taken into account, plunging the back of the head into darkness and creating a pool of dark shadow behind. Graduated shading fills the background. As to why the two drawings of the philosopher are so widely spaced in the sketchbook, it may simply have been easier to prop open the end pages of the sketchbook in making such detailed drawings in the Duke of Richmond's gallery of casts. Romney must have made both drawings at the same time. One of the seated figures in the portrait study at top right is very similar to the seated figure in a portrait study in 52. This may be yet another early idea for the Two Sisters double portrait. Two very slight additional sketches of standing figures are difficult to make out.
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LIVERPOOL SKETCHBOOK
Location: Walker Art Gallery Liverpool. Inventory Number WAG 10850.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the characteristic sale label is present but torn and the sense of the visible digits is unclear); bought by Leggatt; J. P. Heseltine; ... Lord Nathan of Churt; Sotheby 14 November 1962 (52); bought by Jeremy Maas; from whom bought in December 1962 by Liverpool City Libraries; bought from them in 1992 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink sketches on cream paper; 12 x 18.5 cm; 81 pages, numbered 1 recto to 81 verso; numerous pages removed; watermark of crown, shield and VG monogram; calfskin binding. Partially photographed.
The contents of the present sketchbook partially overlap with those of the Victoria & Albert Museum and Fitzwilliam No. 1 sketchbooks, though it is not clear whether they were used concurrently or consecutively. This sketchbook, which contains no studies for the portrait Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, completed at the end of 1776, was presumably started after the V & A sketchbook (which does). To judge by the notes and lists of sitters which occupy the pages at either end of the volume, Romney began using it in the summer of 1777. One list of ‘the people that have called during my sickness’, which includes Lady Gordon and General Smith ‘to know if Lady Craven pictr was to be copied’, also contains the memorandum ‘Collect things for my Brother and call at Mr Smiths at Islington’. A separate list of portraits with payments (it is unclear whether they are still owing or recently paid) refers to such well-known works as the two Ramus portraits and Mrs Birch, as well as an elusive 'Mrs Charters and Child 78-10', perhaps something to do with The Charteris Children. The Mrs Birch is the only identifiable portrait studied in the sketchbook (page 54r), but there are a number of further scattered studies for female full-lengths. One bears a considerable resemblance to the later Mrs Maxwell (painted in 1780) which raises the question of whether the sketchbook could still have been in use at that date. Candidates for the others include the Lady Monson of 1778, for which Romney prepared unusually intensively, and who is posed against a plinth in a way reminiscent of a number of the sketches in this book, and the now cut-down Lady Catherine Vernon as Hebe of 1777.
In a different category are a scattered group of pencil sketches of an expressive male head, apparently a soldier, and perhaps, from a vague anticipation of Romney's later treatment of the head of John Henderson in the role, intended for Macbeth. Loose drawings in the Fitzwilliam Museum and elsewhere attest that Romney was studying the first meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three witches shortly after his return from Italy, and similar studies for this figure occur in Fitzwilliam No.1.
The bulk of the sketches in the volume, however, are connected with the subjects treated in the Liverpool cartoons. They may be divided into two categories: those which essentially repeat, with only minor variation, the design of the cartoon; and those where the composition is significantly different. The former group includes most of the Cupid and Psyche series, Atossa's Dream, The Death of Sigismunda (formerly known as The Death of Cordelia) and Nature Unveiling Herself to the Infant Shakespeare. In the latter category are Medea and Prometheus studies (the latter, on pp.
55v-56, is a tentative identification for an indistinct design comprising a colossal male figure being restrained by two smaller, puny ones). It is hard to generalize about the precise relationship of these drawings to the cartoons. If Hayley's and John Romney's combined account of the gestation of the Cupid and Psyche cartoons is correct, and if the Death of Sigismunda cartoon precedes even them, as on stylistic and circumstantial evidence it seems to, then the related drawings in this sketchbook appear to postdate them, and may represent Romney's attempts to work them up into paintings. The marked concentration of studies for the figure of the kneeling Psyche, and the type of variation between them, strongly recall the series of studies for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, and perhaps reflect Romney rehearsing an awkward-to-manage pose so that he can later paint it vigorously and spontaneously.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No. R.E 27895.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk and red pencil on paper; 28.5 x 20 cm; 33 leaves containing 31 drawings; white parchment binding, enclosed in a parchment case.
This sketchbook, which Romney used on his trip to Italy, 1773-75, has the fewest drawings of any of the Louvre sketchbooks. A slight sketch of an architectural plan is the first drawing in the volume. Following drawings reflect Romney's studies in Italy and show classical and Renaissance influences. A study of a seated classical male nude (2) is followed by two drawings of the profile head of a bearded old man, probably Jupiter, rendered with careful hatching strokes (6v, 7v). Related drawings are 16v and 18v. Two large studies of heads with wide open bow-shaped mouths (8v), remind us of Romney's continuing interest in rendering extreme emotion in facial expressions, evident also in other sketchbooks (e.g. Yale No.7).
No. 21v depicts a kneeling warrior in Roman armor. No. 22v depicts a classical figure in a short tunic picking grapes while no 23v shows two women with baskets of grapes on their heads. One spare line drawing (24v; illustrated in Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques francaises, exhibition catalogue, Musée du Louvre Paris (1994), p. 266), rendered with great economy of means while at the same time managing to be extremely precise in reproducing poses and figural relationships, copies two figures to the extreme left of The Coronation of Charlemagne by Raphael and followers in the Vatican Stanze. No. 25v studies the head of one of these same figures. Other drawings in the sketchbook may reflect less exact borrowings from Raphael. No. 26v depicts a heavily draped and veiled woman holding her right hand over the head of a kneeling female: perhaps the Virgin and a donor; no. 27v studies the same veiled figure.
Nos. 29v, 30, and 32 show figures related to those in The Accusation of Susannah. Raphaelesque in type, the group of women and children in these drawings resonates influence from a group of figures to the left in Raphael's Expulsion of Heliodorus in the Stanze. Though no painting of The Accusation of Susannah was ever finished, it was a subject which Romney treated in a number of sketchbooks and large scale drawings from the late 1760s until 1777.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No. R.F. 27896.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk, graphite, and brown ink on paper; 20.5 x 28 cm; 79 drawings on 48 leaves, recto and verso; white parchment binding enclosed in a parchment case.
This is another Italian sketchbook. Six of the drawings in it are illustrated in Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques francaises, exhibition catalogue, Musée du Louvre Paris (1994), pp. 266-273. One of these (48v) is identified as Venus and Adonis though it is perhaps more likely to be a variant of Cupid and Psyche. Nude male and female couples appear in relation to various subjects in Romney's art at this time and, with characteristic fluidity, he moves from one to another, merging elements of the compositions.
One of the most powerful drawings in the sketchbook presents two studies of a seated hag with flowing, snake-like hair, deep-set eyes and wide open mouth (10). The attack of dark chalk on the page is without hesitation, and the boldness of the technique matches the level of the emotion conveyed by the figure's gesticulating pose and pronounced facial expression. The stylized expression gives evidence of the artist's concern with physiognomy. Such studies of expression are echoed in other Italian sketchbooks (e.g. Yale No.7 and Louvre No.1), underlining the fact that Romney's study of expression began early. Lapland witches, which this hag resembles, were the subject of a black chalk cartoon made soon after Romney's return from Italy in 1775; those witches merged in the ’80s and ’90s with the witches from Macbeth.
Two drawings probably representing The Judgment of Paris (11v, 12), while very similar in figural groupings and poses, are subtly different in emphasis. In the former, the three goddesses are joined together through repetition of the sinuous s-curves running through their draped bodies, while the seated Paris is nearly indecipherable. In the following sketch (12) the goddesses are described with less emphasis while Paris has become more legible. There are further variants of this composition (15, 16, 16v, 17).
One drawing (19) may present a variant of the Lear Awakening theme, also found in Louvre No.3. No. 20 depicts Jupiter with his foot on an orb. This reprises a subject in Louvre No.1 (16v), providing an example of the artist's random, sometimes unexpected return to themes represented in other sketchbooks he worked on at the same time. Another classical subject represented is Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl (3, 4v, 5, 6, 6v, 7, 7v, 8, 21v, 22, 22v, 23, 23v); yet another (24v-29v) may be Hector taking leave of his Father.
A drawing depicting a helmeted man struggling with a woman holding a dagger (45) is reminiscent of studies in Barrow No.1 (63, 69, 77). Others may relate to the Fall of Troy (45v, 46v). A number of the remainder of the drawings in the sketchbook are tantalizing in terms of subject identification. Classical themes are implied, but exact identification is difficult. One composition suggests a sibyl or a sorcery scene (30v, 31).
Many drawings in this sketchbook repeat the same basic composition a number of times, with a continual evolution in terms of concentration on specific elements.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No.
R.F. 27897.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk, graphite, pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink over traces of
graphite on paper; 21 x 28.5 cm; 74 leaves with drawings and notations on both recto and verso, containing a total of 100 drawings and notations in all (some sheets blank); pages were removed between 37-38 and 47-48 before numbers were added at upper right; white parchment binding; enclosed in a parchment case.
The first drawings in the sketchbook, which was in use about 1773-77, are Italian landscapes done before the motif (2, 3, 4, and 5), They are similar in character to those in Barrow No.3. These topographical landscapes convey the charm which the Italian countryside held for the artist. Landscape forms a minor genre among subjects in Romney's drawings though landscape drawings do appear selectively in sketchbooks throughout his career. Landscapes also often appear as backgrounds in subject drawings (17). Dramatic landscapes with strongly contrasting tones achieved through the use of brush and brown wash over graphite (16, 22, 28v) are very different in character from the drawings at the beginning of the volume: here imagination trumps observation; the landscape is charged with feeling, poised to function as a setting for a dramatic subject composition. Such imaginary landscapes, turbulent in mood, were used forcefully by the artist in Lapland Witch drawings upon his return from Italy, and appear throughout his career.
Romney's interest in improving his skill in rendering human anatomy is manifest in pen and brown ink drawings of an écorché leg (5v and 6). Drawings of écorché figures are common in the artist's sketchbooks both before and during his stay in Italy (see Royal Academy No. 2, Barrow Nos. 2 and 3, Yale No.7, and Truro No. 1 sketchbooks).
The sketchbook contains a number of portrait studies (e.g. 7v, 13, 14), and some notable individual figure studies of particular appeal, including an elegant, though slight, pen and ink sketch of a woman viewed from the back (37) and a page with seven heads, including four mature males, a youth, and two females including a carefully detailed female profile (37v). Overall, however, the major focus of this sketchbook is on ideas for subject compositions. Some of these were treated subsequently in other sketchbooks and large scale drawings, for example, Thetis and Achilles (23, 56v, 64v (left), 71 v, 73v, 74); Lear Awakening (35v, 36v, 41v, 43, 43v, 44v, 45, 45v, 48, 48v, 49v); and, possibly, Lear in the Tempest (32v, 47v). Other themes which can be identified are Charity (17), Hector and Andromache (42v), Charon in his boat (22v), and a sacrificial scene with a bull (72, 72v lower right). Other themes which are extensively treated here in fine pen and brown ink sketches are obscure. In a number of cases, one idea flows into another as compositions evolve before one's eyes, with the poses of individual figures and the number of figures changing from one drawing to the next. The artist as choreographer maneuvers his cast through different scenes of a play that is continually rewritten. Soldiers in antique armor along with other figures appear in some of the compositions (51v, 52, 52v, 53, 53v, 54v, 55). In others a man appears to be anointing a standing woman (40v, 59v, 60v); in one crowd scene a smoking altar appears (46v, 65v). Figural groupings in some drawings will surface again some years later in other subject compositions, e.g. 65v, showing a man and a woman in a pose adopted for Tempest drawings in the mid-1780s.
The list of Romney's purchases on 74v reminds us that he was an inveterate collector – in this instance of ‘festoons... old coins ... a medal of Leopold ... 1 Milanese old Crown ... [and] sundry small pieces.’
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No.
R.F. 27898.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit, by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk and pen and brown ink on paper; 22.5 x 37 cm; watermark of crown insignia with bell at bottom, and below: J HONIC/&/ZOONEN; forty-six drawings in all; white parchment binding; enclosed in a parchment case.
This volume contains copies of classical sculptures, and some drawings may be free copies from Renaissance sources. Most of the drawings, however, comprise ideas for Romney's own compositions. Variants of certain of these compositions appear in other sketchbooks and large-scale drawings. Some echo drawings in other of the Louvre sketchbooks. For example, compare no. 11 with R.F. 27895.30 and no. 39v with R.F. 27895.26v.
In Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques
françaises, exhibition catalogue, Musee du Louvre Paris (1994), p. 264 the authenticity of this sketchbook was questioned by Jane Roberts. She believes it to contain copies and tracings from Romney's compositions made by another artist. This view may be conditioned by the fact that many drawings in the sketchbook are executed in a very simple, plain style, different from the free, rapid technique characteristic of many of Romney's drawings. However, Romney's stylistic and technical range can be extremely broad, and the reductive technique employed in many of the drawings in this sketchbook could be a result of Romney's desire to record simply and quickly particular visual ideas for future reference. Moreover, a number of drawings in other Italian sketchbooks, e.g. Barrow Nos. 2 and 3, are executed in a similar technique.
The first drawing in the sketchbook (3) comprises two copies of antique reliefs. The first, inscribed in a roundel, depicts figures grouped around a central column, the figure to the extreme left crowning the next with laurel. The second is a study of a sacrificial relief, which includes a kneeling figure pouring wine from a wine sack and a figure in a helmet slitting a ram's throat. Another study from the antique (4) depicts Olympia seated on rocks, two standing figures to her left; to the right is an unrelated study of a maenad with clappers. Some of the drawings parallel subjects the artist was known to have been concerned with at this period, studies for which appear in other sketchbooks. No. l0v, for example, depicts a child with an open book standing beside a seated woman; this is similar to a drawing in Yale No.7. A seated figure in no. 11 relates to a figure in Romney's composition of The Accusation of Susannah. There are also studies of Cupid and Psyche, legs entwined (12v, 24v). No. 14v relates to The Destruction of Niobe's Children. Several drawings appear to relate to Medea and her Children (17v, 40v, 41v); and there is a variant of Jupiter and Thetis (45v).
One of the most curious drawings in the volume (23) is a detailed version of The Death of Sigismunda (formerly known as The Death of Cordelia), the subject of one of the Liverpool cartoons. All the elements of the cartoon are found here: The number of figures is the same, shown in similar figural relationships as in the cartoon; even the vase on a plinth at the center of the composition is included though here it is much larger than in the cartoon. However, poses of individual figures differ in certain specific ways from those in the Liverpool cartoon, e.g.: 1) the standing figure to the extreme left drapes her right arm over the back of the figure in front of her; 2) Sigismunda faces the viewer, her head resting on her right arm, bent at the elbow; 3) the woman at the head of the bier drapes her left arm over Sigismunda 4) the right arm of the old man at the foot of the bier lies flat on the support, his left arm crossing it 5) there is a distinct arch in the background right. These alternative details mean that the drawing in the Louvre sketchbook is a developmental study for the composition rather than a copy by another hand after the finished cartoon. It is nonetheless curious – and atypical of Romney – that the drawing stands alone in the sketchbook, with no related drawings exploring compositional variants. Yet the presence in an Italian sketchbook of this drawing – which must be taken as authentic – reinforces the suggestion (Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002), p.119) that The Death of Sigismunda is the earliest of the Liverpool cartoons and that it was done in Rome.
While the drawing for The Death of Sigismunda stands alone, other drawings in the sketchbook show a sequencing (e.g. 40v, 41v) which points to the artist's engagement in the working out of an idea. This does not reflect the method and purpose of a copyist. Furthermore, close analysis of specific motifs points to authenticity of the sketchbook. Certain signature methods for rendering details – an artist's handwriting, so to speak – cannot be duplicated by a copyist.
Among comparisons which can be cited between drawings in this sketchbook and undisputed drawings: the profiles, straight from forehead to nose tip, seen in nos. 15 and 19v are identical to those seen in nos. 71 and 113 in Barrow No.3; the tousle-haired child with its index finger touching its chin in no. 30v is very close in facial type to the child in drawings in the Fitzwilliam Museum (BV 1, 2); the kneeling woman with children seen in no.26 parallels (in reverse) a group in studies for The Accusation of Susannah (e.g. Princeton 1948.1643); the group with a kneeling male in no. 28 parallels a similar group in no. 69 in Barrow No.3 and the standing woman with the index finger of her right hand touching her face in no. 38 parallels a similar figure in no. 30 in Barrow No.3.
Perhaps future close analysis of the sketchbook's paper and its watermark can establish whether or not this particular paper would have been available to Romney in Rome. In the meantime, however, on the basis of considerations of subject matter, style, and technique enumerated above, this sketchbook should be accepted as authentic.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.5
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Grapbiques. Inventory no. R.E 27899.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no.40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk on paper; 45.5 x 29.5 cm; 31 leaves numbered on recto, with a total of 33 pages of drawings and notations (23 drawings on the recto; ten on the verso); watermark of crown and fleur-de-lis; white parchment binding, enclosed in a parchment case.
The majority of drawings in this sketchbook, which dates from around 1776-77, are portrait studies of women. These include 4v, 5, 6, 6v, 7, 8, 8v, 9, 10, 11, 11v, 12, 12v-13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22v, 23, 23v, 24, 24v, 25. Both seated and standing figures are shown in a variety of poses. Some drawings bear comparison with examples in the Liverpool sketchbook, which Romney was also using in 1777. A study in the Liverpool volume (75v) shows a standing figure with the same high hair style as in no.16 though in the former the sitter wears contemporary dress while in the latter the circled breasts and clinging draperies suggest a more classical inspiration in the costume, reflecting the artist's study of antique sculpture in Italy. In both sketchbooks similar alternate types of costume solutions are employed.
In addition to portrait studies, this sketchbook contains several subject compositions. The first drawing in the volume (3v) shows figures kneeling and standing on either side of an altar with a vase on it; a crowd scene is to the right. In no. 22, within a landscape, a female at the left kneels at the feet of a second figure. This might relate to Psyche Supplicating Juno, studies for which are found in the Liverpool sketchbook. No. 30 is an indistinct landscape; 31v is similar and has the suggestion of a shipwreck at the right.
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MELBOURNE SKETCHBOOK
Location: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Inventory No. 669-5.
Provenance: ... Sir Bruce Ingram; from whom bought in 1960 through the Felton Bequest by the present owner.
Description: Sepia ink on cream laid paper; 19.5 x 15.5 cm; 69 pages, numbered 1 recto to 69 verso; Britannia watermark; vellum binding. Partially photographed.
The contents of this sketchbook have been extensively discussed in two articles, Joseph Burke’s ‘Romney's ‘Leigh Family’ (1768): A Link between the Conversation Piece and the neo-classical Portrait Group’ Annual Bulletin of the National Gallery of Victoria vol. ii (1960) and Jennifer Jones-O'Neill’s ‘George Romney's Sketchbook in the National Gallery of Victoria: The Development of a new expressive Vocabulary' Art Bulletin of Victoria vol. 39 (1998). The first article concerned itself only with eleven sketches in the sketchbook relating to The Leigh Family (itself at Melbourne); the purpose of the second was to study some of the remaining contents of the sketchbook and relate them to contemporary artistic practice. This article was less concerned to identify subject-matter – only one new subject was proposed, Sterne's Maria for the drawing on page 35 – than to relate the expressive character of Romney's figure studies to the traditional depiction of melancholic themes. The author follows the lead of Anne Crookshank and Pat Jaffé in the case of other early sketchbooks (see Royal Academy No.1) in arguing that Romney must have used this sketchbook both before and after his visit to Italy. This is a view which is not borne out by the subject matter or by stylistic considerations. Given that it contains an extended sequence of studies for The Leigh Family, the sketchbook was in use by the beginning of 1768, and it can therefore be identified as one of the first books Romney moved on to as the Kendal Town Hall sketchbook began to be filled up. It would be very surprising if it had still been in use in 1775. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to wonder just how long Romney did use it for.
Apart from the studies for The Leigh Family, the only known works for which studies can certainly be identified are The Warren Family of 1769 (p. 16) and Thomas Rackett (probably 1768; p. 20v). These apart, there are a number of studies reminiscent of Melancholy (1770) (or possibly Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse); and one-off studies which resemble the so-called Mrs Collingwood at Liverpool, usually dated 1767 (p. 55v), and The Misses Cumberland, dateable to 1772 (p. 36). The latter identification in itself implies that the sketchbook was in use over six years, and may prove suspect. There are numerous other studies for a double portrait of two girls where the resemblance to The Misses Cumberland is less obvious, and another portrait of two girls altogether may be in question.
Studies for more historical subjects are scattered through the volume, but they are proportionally few in comparison, say, to the slightly later Barrow No 1.
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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY SKETCHBOOK
Location: National Portrait Gallery, London. Archive Manuscript Collection 18-A-4.
Provenance: ... William Roberts; by descent; Christie’s 12 April 1994 (16); purchased by the present owner.
Description: Sepia ink manuscript; sketches chiefly in ink, some with wash, one page in graphite; cream laid paper; vellum binding; 20 x 16 cm; 67 leaves numbered 1 - 23, 23a and 24- 133; back endpaper numbered 134; some pages torn out; watermark of unidentified design in roundel surmounted by a crown; vellum binding.
This sketchbook is relatively familiar as it was published as long ago as 1932 (see William Roberts: ‘Some Early Romneys’ Connoisseur (June 1932). It is unusual in combining sketches with extensive drafts of letters and notes of patrons' outstanding accounts. Among the drafts is one addressed to the artist's father which is uniquely valuable in shedding light on the state of his relations with his wife at this time. Romney writes that he is ‘a little surprised that she should say she will come to London at such a time without even consulting me whether it is a proper season or whether it suits me or not. When it suits me I shall send for her and if she come contrary to my approbation she will have reason to regret it as it certainly will be at this time.’
Other drafts are for letters to patrons whose commissions he was finishing, including Sir Francis Vincent, William Lindow, Lord Arundell of Wardour and Miss Joan Knatchbull. A draft account for the latter is dated 14 October 1772 and Romney's accompanying letter to her mentions, as do those to other patrons, that it is his intention to go to Italy in three weeks. This is probably the sketchbook Romney was using immediately before his departure, which would explain why the content is a mixture of art and business.
The entry in Christie's sale catalogue raises the question of how long previously Romney might have begun to use the volume, noting that John Romney's description of certain sketches for The Leigh Family correspond to ones in this volume. They do not, however, resemble any part of the finished painting and the link appears tenuous. There is also the draft of a letter to Lady Warren, whose portrait with her husband and stepdaughter Romney had painted in 1769; however, this does not seem to relate directly to the commission and perhaps may be read as a thank you to Lady Warren for her efforts in securing long-overdue payment for the picture. (Romney's writing in this volume is even more illegible than usual.) The Christie's description notes that certain studies for a full-length female portrait (pp. 43-44, 53, 59-60) appear to be for Mrs Henry Verelst - currently thought to have been started in the second half of 1771 - but again the link is not clear-cut; and it might equally be suggested that they are for Lady Arundell of Wardour. A sketch for a female bust portrait in an oval format (p. 57) may be related to the Lady Melbourne of about 1771. Some sketches bear a distinct resemblance to the Mother and Child that Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771, but this was a theme that was occupying Romney generally, both in his portraiture and in projected historical works, and it would be premature to assume that these sketches relate to that particular picture. The one identifiable portrait for which studies do appear to be present is, appropriately, the National Portrait Gallery's own Richard Cumberland, half-length. If it is correct that Romney was working on this portrait when he left London for Italy, and completed it on his return, that may bear out the idea that this sketchbook was really only in use for a short time before his departure.
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1659; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: …Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on laid paper; 18 x 27 cm; two center leaves missing; a total of 34 drawings; watermark of J Whatman; paper binding.
Following a slight initial landscape drawing (1) the first sketches in this volume (lv, 2v, 3), in graphite, depict a child, attendants, and a goat, a composition which relates to The Infancy of Jupiter. Similar sketches on this theme (in pen and brown ink rather than graphite, as here) are found in the Houston sketchbook, which helps date the present volume to 1783. Additional drawings also echo those in the Houston sketchbook. For example, the crouching female in 3v and 4 may be studies of the same female in a Houston composition (37), which appears to depict the milkmaid whose goat upset her pail, referred to by John Romney. Cows included in this Houston composition evoke a study of a cow in the Princeton volume (10). The group of figures on horseback to the left of no. 5 echo those in Houston no. 17; and no. 20, which includes two studies of a figure on horseback, can be compared to the dynamic horseman in a Houston drawing (50).
In some instances, particular motifs migrate between sketchbooks. For example, a pastoral scene with figures lying down and playing the pipes (17), though different from compositions in the Houston sketchbook, nonetheless shares similar mountain peaks with Houston drawings (28, 53). Even particular classes of drawings, in some instances represented by only one drawing, are found in both these sketchbooks, e.g., a reclining female (Princeton 18; Houston 52); a male nude (Princeton 20v; Houston 12); profile head studies (Princeton 15v, 16; Houston 9). Thus, in subject categories as well as with specific subjects there are close similarities between the two sketchbooks. At the same time, each volume has drawings on discrete subjects: there is a paralleling of subjects yet also a divergence into new areas of concern.
Subjects in this sketchbook not repeated in the Houston volume include a striding helmeted figure (7, 8); this same figure kneeling (9); dancing figures in a wooded landscape (11); Lapland witches with a shipwreck (12); possibly the witches confronting Macbeth and Banquo on the heath (13, 13v); and a crowd of horsemen (19).
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1660; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: ... Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite drawings on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 18 pages, some loose; many pages removed; Princeton drawings 48-1651, 48-1652, and 48-1653 were extracted from this sketchbook; board binding.
A notation by Romney on p. 18v is of importance in dating this sketchbook: ‘Arno/John Burstall/Dated Leghorn 31 August 1792/Ten Cases/Sixty-eight Pounds/Sterling in all’. This refers to Flaxman's first shipment to Romney of classical casts from Italy. Flaxman wrote Romney from Rome September 12, 1792, ‘I have sent you ten large Cases of plaister Casts by the Ship Arno from Leghorn, John Burstall Master...’ (Osborn Collection (folder 13.13) Beinecke Library, Yale University). The notation corroborates Romney's receipt of the letter and verifies that he used the sketchbook in 1792. The date of 1792 accords with the subjects found in the sketchbook. There are studies (1, 6, 6v, 7, 7v, 8v, and 11) for the painting Milton and his Daughters, which Hayley noted that Romney began in the spring of 1792. The sketchbook contains studies of Titania and her fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream (1v (left), 2 (left), 2v, 3, 9) and of The Indian Woman (5). Several drawings are related to the theme of John Howard visiting a prison (1v (right), 2 (center), 3v, 9v, 10). Three additional drawings on the Howard theme which were originally part of this sketchbook have been extracted and mounted separately (48-1651, 48-1652, and 48-1653). Additional drawings in the sketchbook include four studies of a nude figure perched on a rock (13v); and three studies of a seated woman with a child (10v) which may be portrait studies. One anomalous drawing in the sketchbook (17v) gives the elevation of a house from different sides, with a list of the number of doors, windows, chimneys, etc. Architectural plans and elevations are not unusual in Romney's later sketchbooks; in 1796, the artist was to acquire land in Hampstead on which to build a house of his own design.
A list in Romney's hand on the back end paper gives the name of 21 clients (two crossed out) and amounts charged for portraits. Those which can be deciphered include Mr. Ed. Stephenson (84), Col. Lowther (40 guineas), Sir Beauchamp (60), Sir J. [H.?]Dashwood (40), Mr. Powis (70), Mr. Steele (80), Mrs. Annes1ey (200), Capt. Bentinck (25) and his Mother (25), Sir R. Harland [crossed out] (125), Mr. Pelham (25), Lord Thurlow (40), Mrs. Fitzherbert (25), Mr. Fazakerley (94-20), Miss Murray (31-10), Mr. Hon. Wallop (31- 10), and Mr. Gunning (26-5). Most of these individuals sat to Romney between 1786-1791. Some had paid Romney for paintings by 1792 (e.g. Col. Lowther paid
£66 on July 26, 1786), but most had not paid up in full by that time. Rather than a comprehensive list of sitters and amounts due, the list probably roughly gauges forthcoming payments the artist could count on.
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1661; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on paper; 24.5 x 18.5 cm; 78 surviving pages; at least 8 pages removed; watermark of crown and fleur-de-lis with initials GR; vellum binding.
Of great interest in this sketchbook are several studies (33, 33v, 34 and 34v) which relate to Romney's only reported essay into sculpture. In 1784 William Hayley asked Romney to design a memorial to Hayley's friend John Thornton. As Hayley writes: Romney ‘kindly modelled a little figure of afflicted Friendship, in the form of a reclining female, to rest on a sepulchral vase.’ (William Hayley: The Life of George Romney Esq. (1809) p. 98). Romney modeled the figure in clay while staying with Hayley at Eartham and then took it to London to have it fired. This, however, he neglected to do, according to Hayley, and ultimately the sculpture fell to pieces. These drawings show us Romney's idea for this monument. Significantly, the figure of the woman sitting atop the urn recalls the Mourning Dacian, from a classical relief Romney had drawn while in Rome some ten years earlier (see Barrow No.3, No. 44). One of the Princeton drawings (34) includes a line drawing of a man's head and neck, perhaps suggesting that a profile of Thornton himself was to be incorporated into the monument. The drawings of the woman on the urn are in graphite, with careful modeling employed to give mass to the forms. No 35 brings an abrupt change in technique. Vividly rendered in pen and brown ink, it depicts a seated woman holding a book towards a woman standing in front of her.
Portrait studies include nos. 8, 16v, 17, 17v, 18, 18v, 19, 38, 49. Figures dancing in a ring appear in 9, 11 v, 12 and 14. Such groups are found in drawings throughout the artist's career from The Gower Children in the 1770s to witches from Macbeth and fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream in the l790s. No. 37 is a drawing, within an oval, which echoes Romney's Serena Reading, a painting completed prior to September 1782, when a mezzotint of it was published. This must have been made after the painting was completed. No. 73v is a rough sketch of The Birth of Shakespeare. Three drawings of female nudes round out the volume (72v, 73, and 74). The last of these drawings presents a supine nude bending backwards in a particularly voluptuous pose.
A male figure in armor carrying a sword (or a spear in some instances) is shown by himself or with a group of additional figures in a number of drawings (36v, 64v, 66v, 67, 68, 68v, 69v, 70, 70v, 71, 71v, 72). This could represent Macbeth confronting the witches on the heath; however, the subject, like a number of others appearing in Romney's sketchbooks in the early 1780s, resists easy interpretation. The same goes for the following compositions, which can be described but not easily identified: (1) a seated woman bending to the right with her arms reaching towards a child; surrounding figures include one holding sword (5v, 6, 6v, 10) (2) a group of figures bending over a prostrate figure (l4v, 15, 15v, 16, 22v, 23, 24). This composition evolves and changes in regard to number of figures and specific poses. For example, no. 14v includes a figure at the left with an arm outstretched as if commanding the reclining figure to rise.
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ROYAL ACADEMY SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Library of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Inventory No. RA 08/723.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the presumption that the sketchbook was included in the sale has been made from the presence inside the sketchbook of a loose page from the catalogue); ... method of acquisition by the present owner is uncertain; it seems likely that it was presented with 781B, below, but RA Council Minutes do not confirm this.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings, some with wash on cream laid paper; 19 x 15.5 cm; 72 leaves; used leaves numbered 1-117; unused leaves unnumbered; approximately 5 leaves removed at the back; vellum binding. Partially photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art. Former RA inventory number 781A.
Both from the style of the draughtsmanship and from the identifiable subject-matter, this sketchbook can be dated to 1770-71. There are at least four studies (pp. 27, 34-35, 78) for Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse, shown at the Society of Artists in 1771, and at least one (p. 77) for the Mother and Child shown at the same exhibition. Other subjects represented which Romney is known to have contemplated around this date include Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies from Addison's Spectator (pp. 66-68) and The Accusation of Susannah (pp. 11, 18). The presence of these last led Pat (Jaffé) Milne- Henderson to conclude that this sketchbook was in use shortly after Romney returned from Rome; for John Romney reported that his father was working on this subject in January 1777. She also stated that the sketchbook included composition notations for The Clavering Children, painted by Romney in the summer of 1777. This appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
Other groups of studies whose subjects are not certain include two unusually highly finished drawings set in a prison, in which an incarcerated mother hands a tiny infant to a monk (pp. 15, 47) and a number which have formerly been identified as Paolo and Francesca, from Dante. The endpapers have brief notations referring to 'Mr. Williams of Wimpole St' and 'Mr. Smithson at Mr. Websters watchmaker in Change alley'; some evidence exists for a portrait of the latter (and one of his wife) but so far none has emerged for a portrait of Mr Williams.
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ROYAL ACADEMY SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Library of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Inventory No. RA 03/ 1321.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); …Coghlan Briscoe; by whom given in 1929 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings, some with wash on cream laid paper; 18.5 x 15.5 cm; 46 pages, unnumbered; a number of pages removed; vellum binding. Former RA inventory number 781B.
It is tempting, but may be premature, to suppose that the two Royal Academy sketchbooks have always been together, and formed one lot at Miss Romney's sale. They are physically similar, and were obviously in use at the same time, although the overlap in subject matter is scant. This one was shown in the Royal Academy's exhibition Treasures of the Royal Academy in 1963 (catalogue no. 146) where it was noted that Anne Crookshank had dated it to 1772, but had stated it contained drawings made after Romney's return from Italy in 1775. This parallels Pat (Jaffé) Milne-Henderson's view of the other Royal Academy sketchbook. Crookshank specifically adduced the presence of drawings for Macbeth ‘connected to ones done after 1775’; but additionally, she may have had in mind the group of sketches for the portrait of Richard Cumberland in the National Portrait Gallery, which at that time would have been assumed to date from 1776. The sketches for the Cumberland portrait are close to those in the National Portrait Gallery sketchbook, and their appearance in this context offers strong circumstantial evidence that this portrait was at least begun, if not finished, before Romney went to Italy. Elsewhere in the sketchbook there is a group of studies for Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, including one or two featuring individual figures, rather than the composition as a whole; and there are three drawings of the écorché figure belonging to Dr. Hunter, a subject which also recurs in other sketchbooks in use at this time. The sketchbook opens with a sequence of studies for a pastoral subject plausibly identified in the Treasures of the Royal Academy catalogue as Daphnis and Chloe (the reclining male figure is holding a flute); and this is followed by a series depicting a group of figures around a dying man on a bier (perhaps The Death of King Lear). Finally there are several studies of a scene of an encounter between two women: one standing with attendants, one kneeling.
What give this sketchbook particular interest, however, are the annotations in Romney's hand at both ends of the sketchbook. On the first page is a list of names and sums of money, which must represent payments owing for recently completed portraits. At their head is Sir G W 63. 0 which undoubtedly relates to The Warren Family of 1769; but few of the names which follow are recognizable from any other source. This list is, therefore, a key document for the study of Romney's pre-Italian portraiture. Regrettably the handwriting is more than unusually difficult but among the few familiar names are Dr. Marton, whose portrait of around 1767 is in Lancaster City Museum, Mr. Hunt (perhaps Thomas Hunt of Mollington) and Allwood, which is likely to be a reference to the frame-maker. At the end of the list, upside down, is written ‘Mrs Marke Smithson’, who presumably relates to the 'Mr Smithson' in Change alley noted at the end of Royal Academy No. 1. At the other end of the present sketchbook Romney noted his brother Peter's address 'at Mr Postlethwaites in Park Lane Liverpole' and wrote out an account for Mr. Gregg at the 'Blackamore's Head', Cheapside, apparently for two pictures and one frame, totalling £22.14s; another transaction with an otherwise entirely unknown patron.
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STANFORD SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, CA. Inventory No. 1974.194; Committee for Art Fund.
Provenance: ... Alfred de Pass; Royal Institution of Cornwall; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (22); bought by Matthews; ... private collection; Thomas Agnew; from whom bought in 1974 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on heavy ivory laid paper; 17 x 25 cm; 14 studies on 44 leaves; watermark of J Whatman; board binding.
The sketchbook is dated May 1794 inside the front cover. Its fourteen studies consist of the following: four studies for A Shipwreck at the Cape of Good Hope; four for John Howard Visiting A Prison; four studies for The Birth of Man, the first of twelve subjects Romney intended painting on a cycle of 'The Ages of Man' (from Shakespeare's As You Like It); a single male figure, half-length, and a male figure in a landscape. It also contains the draft of Romney's letter to Hayley dated 27 May 1794 published in Hayley’s biography, p. 214.
The above information paraphrases Lorenz Eitner et al.: Stanford University Museum of Art: The Drawing Collection (1993) cat. 213, pp. 330-31, where it is observed that ‘the various subjects are repeated with slight variations but, characteristically, without any noticeable progress towards a compositional solution’.
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STANFORD SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, CA. Inventory No. 1976.134; Mortimer
C. Leventritt Fund.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Mrs W. Brown; ... Victor Chan; from whom bought in 1976 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on heavy ivory laid paper; 18 x 25 cm: 25 studies on 40 leaves; board binding.
This sketchbook is not inscribed with a date but like its companion at Stanford was used in the mid-1790s. There are several late studies for John Howard Visiting a Prison which are probably again from around May 1794. A series of architectural studies (pp. 16, 24, 25, 34-39) are connected with Romney's ideas of acquiring a new property (anticipating his move to Hampstead, which did not gain momentum until 1796).
The identification of some of the other subjects remains conjectural. They appear to include The Fall of the Rebel Angels (pp. 1, 17) presumably related to Hayley's planned Life of Milton; a scene of Charity (pp. 15, 19, 21), similar to studies at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, and sketches for what appears to be the Rape of the Sabines.
The above paraphrases Lorenz Eitner et al.: Stanford University Museum of Art: The Drawing Collection (1993) cat. 214, p. 331.
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STOCKHOLM SKETCHBOOK
Location: Nationalmuseum Stockholm. Inventory Number NMH 109/1916.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (possibly lot 8, as this figure is written on the characteristic blue edged sale label inside the cover); ... acquired by Harald Bendixon in London, probably about 1915; by whom given to the present owner in 1916.
Description: Sepia ink, with only one instance of graphite (as an addition) on cream laid paper; 17 x 15 cm; 63 leaves, numbered from 1 to 126; some leaves removed; unidentified watermark; vellum binding.
This sketchbook was used in the early 1770s. The style of the drawing throughout is close to that in Barrow No. 1 and is especially homogenous, suggesting the sketchbook was in use over a short timespan, perhaps no more than a few months. This theory is underscored by the fact that only a few subjects are studied, but at length, and generally in blocks of pages. It is possible that each block represents a single session of work.
At the beginning (pp. 1-7) a group of studies for a half- length double portrait of man and wife could well be for Mr and Mrs William Lindow, painted in 1772 (Tate), although only the last sketch bears a distinct resemblance to the configuration of the painting itself. At the other end of the sketchbook is a sequence of studies for a portrait of two girls, apparently the Misses Cumberland in Boston. From the age of the girls, this too appears to be a work of no earlier than 1772. The question is whether Romney used the intervening pages consecutively, between studying for these works. Among their contents, there is a single sketch for the portrait of a standing boy which resembles Thomas Rackett, and a sequence of studies for a large group portrait containing six adult figures, which contains strong hints of The Leigh Family. It seems more likely that these are sketches for portraits, either never carried out or else now lost, that followed up on those earlier works. The group portrait studies are of great interest. The only other work of Romney's that they resemble is the later Beaumont Family in the Tate. Could he have originally received the commission for this work in 1772, before he went to Italy?
For the rest, there are major groups of studies for two mother and child subjects (which one might loosely relate to the Mother and Child exhibited in 1771); in one of these the mother is recumbent. Similar studies appear in other sketchbooks of the period. Another group is for a multi-figure historical scene: a male warrior, occasionally accompanied by other male figures, is taking leave of a scene of grieving females. The mother and child studies may well have been intended to be part of this same scene.
In terms of its familiarity from the literature, this is one of Romney’s least-known sketchbooks, although it was briefly referred to by John Hayes in his review of the Romney exhibition at Kenwood as long ago as 1961.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 1
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI: 1923.142.1.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Ink on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 59 pages, numbered from back to front 1-59 (also 1-118); vellum binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
On the inside cover is Romney's note of the cost of a violin and case, £3 - 13; and this is followed on page 1 by the draft of a letter to Mrs Hunt: Mrs Hunt's picture before it be well dryed the coloure is apt to turn verry yellow, my picture will turn yellow in a small degree but that will come off[f] if the picture be well dryed. If it should be the case with Mrs Hunts setting it in a strong light a day or two will bring it to its original clearness... The portrait concerned is Mrs Thomas Hunt (Lanhydrock House, National Trust) dateable on stylistic grounds to the late 1760s. The drawings in the present sketchbook are from the same period.
The first drawings in the sketchbook are studies for Melancholy, Romney's exhibition picture of 1770 based on Milton's poem Il Penseroso. The whole length figure is here, as in similar studies in Barrow No. 1, set in a Gothic church. Other studies for this figure, and for its companion Mirth, dominate the contents of the sketchbook. Also present are numerous sketches for another subject found in Barrow No. 1, in which a male figure clutches the waist of a swooning woman under a cliff or tree. In the present sketchbook, there are numerous variations on this, suggesting that Romney is more interested in the motif of the figures than in the subject being illustrated.
Other unidentified subjects include a whole-length male portrait (pp. 11, 12), a female nude at her mirror (identified in Courtauld files as Bathsheba, but more likely The Toilet of Venus) (pp. 29v, 30v), a man conversing with three girls under a tree (pp. 46v, 47v, 49v and 50) and a pastoral couple seated under a tree (pp 8-9). This last is perhaps Daphnis and Chloe, a subject which has been identified in the contemporary Royal Academy No.2. The appearance on pages 55v to 58v of studies of an écorché figure provides a further link with that sketchbook.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 2
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI:1923.142.2.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly graphite drawings, but some in ink and one in ink and wash on laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 39 pages, numbered 1 - 78, many pages removed; watermark of shield with LVC monogram; leather binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
The best evidence for dating this sketchbook is a draft receipt on the last page: J. Martin/ Ten Pounds/ London the 14 Day of December 1781. However, at the other end of the volume, a long sequence of lists and instructions written by the artist to himself, clearly at several different times, and running over five pages, re- inforces the notion that Romney used this sketchbook over quite a long period. These notes, mixing household and business matters, give a colourful insight into the quality of Romney's daily life.
The most obviously recognizable subject in the body of the sketchbook is the study of a mother with her young child staring at its face in a mirror (p. 50; the drawing on p. 39 is perhaps related). This, together with three studies of the child looking at the mirror alone (pp. 44-46) must relate to the well-known Mrs Russell and her Son (private collection) for which sittings began in June 1784. The remainder of the sketchbook was probably in use before this, not only because these subjects occur towards the end (most of the leaves after p. 57 are unused), but also because the character of the remaining subjects echoes those of the Houston sketchbook, which is dated September 1783. Between pages 27 and 49 there are many studies for the equestrian portrait which recurs in the latter sketchbook, and also common to both are studies for The Infancy of Jupiter; here in the shape of drawings of a female, child or children and a goat. As in the Houston sketchbook, there are a number of atmospheric distant landscapes. The isolated drawing at the end of the volume of a classical building seen through a vista of trees (p. 76) has the feel of being slightly earlier in date, and may represent Romney's first use of the sketchbook.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 3
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI: 1923.142.3.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink drawings on laid paper; 12 x 18.5 cm; 58 pages, numbered both 1- 58 on the rectos and also 1-116; numerous pages removed; unidentified watermark; leather binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
This is one of the most elusive sketchbooks in the canon. Although it is inscribed on the front in Romney's hand September 1783, this proves surprisingly unhelpful towards identifying the contents. They seem at best only distantly related to the drawings in the Houston sketchbook, which bears the same date and those in Truro No. 2 which was also in use around this time. Not one of the subjects in this sketchbook is immediately recognizable. A clue to their identity may however reside in a list on page 7 of 'Subjects for Pictures', where Romney notes Clarissa in Prison/Belvidera Act 1st a description/Polimetes subjects p. 263/278/Aikin's [illegible]/Sensitive Plant (presumably an anticipation of Emma as Sensibility, though there is nothing visually close to the finished painting of 1787) and Fabulous Dictionary.
The overriding impression left by the sketchbook is the dominance of small single figures and studies of children. Many of these have a pronounced rustic or pastoral character. Two girls with a goat may be distantly related to The Infancy of Jupiter, but elsewhere the girls appear with other animals, for example on page 7v where they are milking a cow. On page 9v there is a study with overtones of Fortune Telling, and on page 17 there is a beautiful study of a girl reading which has overtones of the first Serena paintings of a few years earlier. Just conceivably Romney still had Lord Thurlow's version of Serena on hand – there is a note on page 1, 'Lord Thurlow's Serena' – and made this sketch to get back into the spirit of that work.
Scattered through pages 18 to 32 are a number of caricatured heads which, unfamiliar from this phase of Romney's career, complete the sketchbook's effect of disorientation.
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VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM SKETCHBOOK
Location: Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Inventory No. E-4-1926.
Provenance: ... [? J.P. Heseltine; (if the writing on the inside front cover is his; if so, it is likely the book appeared in Miss Elizabeth Romney's sale in the same lot as the Liverpool sketchbook and he acquired the two sketchbooks together)]; ... H.W. Underdown; from whom purchased in 1926 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink and wash, but also some graphite on cream laid paper; 12.5 x 19 cm; 42 pages, numbered 1-42 on the rectos; some pages removed; watermark of crown, shield and VG monogram; calfskin (or pigskin) binding.
This sketchbook is the best place to appreciate the direct and transforming effect on Romney's draughtsmanship of his stay in Italy. The vigour, breadth and spontaneity of the ink drawings in particular reveal Romney full of the new-found confidence which study of the antique and Old Masters had given him. The compositions are taken further towards 'completion' than normal, as though Romney was revelling in drawing for its own sake, and there is also an almost strategic, considered feel to them as a sequence, as if the change of style has been meditated and is a conscious exercise.
Romney must have begun using the sketchbook not long after his return to London in July 1775, since the contents include a number of studies for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, which he was painting in the course of 1776. Overlapping the contents of the Liverpool and Fitzwilliam No. 1 sketchbooks, there are also studies for a number of the subjects among the Cupid and Psyche series of the Liverpool cartoons, and for what appear to be the heads of Macbeth and Banquo for a projected Macbeth subject. The interior relationship between these three sketchbooks, which form an obvious group, is hard to pin down precisely; yet it seems plausible that this was the first in use of the three, and that the Cupid and Psyche and Macbeth subjects here reflect Romney's first conversations with William Hayley in 1776.
Further subjects include a number of beautiful, broadly brushed landscapes; a crowd scene (e.g. pp. 27, 40v) possibly to be associated with a return to the pre-Italian theme of The Accusation of Susannah; a study (p. 9) for a Mater Dolorosa under a Gothic arch, intended for the commission for an altarpiece for King's College Chapel, Cambridge; and studies of a figure floating on clouds which has traditionally been called Thetis and which later turned into the figure of Ariel in the picture of Act I of The Tempest. The latter, together with the sketches for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe are the most numerous in the volume.
There are manuscript notations at both ends of the sketchbook. At the back Romney noted 'Mrs Robinson in the house Lord Camden lives in', together with the address of Edmund Burke. At the front is a longer memorandum (could this have been addressed to his brother James, who had aspirations as a writer?) which, with the spelling and punctuation corrected, reads: ‘I should like you to write a Satire on the times, marking the follies peculiar to this age, and to draw the conspicuous characters of folly full-length, and to work up a system of that sort that would mark the age. I do not know any subject equal to it for copiousness, variety and entertainment, and beneficent-ness to mankind. There is religious pretension, fashion and tastes that prevail at this time, and to apprehend the great light that is thrown on all the scenes, the extraordinary industry of man in that line and our superiority to all natures in purity of love and superiority in all arts ...’. In its characteristic mixture of bitterness and idealism, this short passage sums up Romney's personality as surely as the pages which follow epitomize his qualities as a draughtsman.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.288a-ss.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite; graphite and black and grey wash; pen with brown ink and wash; 29 x 46 cm; 49 pages (one unnumbered); 62 drawings on 45 sheets; board and leather binding,
Subject-matter in this uniquely grand volume is mixed. Notable are several powerful landscapes, Claudean in their arrangement of motifs e.g. flanking trees in the foreground; forest and a domed temple in the middle range and a mountain peak in the distance (3, 14); other landscapes emphasize the trees. A landscape with mountain peaks is lightly sketched as a backdrop for Canidia and the Youth (13); another Canidia composition (18) employs ink and wash to delineate the figures; it takes place in a cave like setting with one tree to the left providing a landscape accent. Romney worked on the Canidia theme about 1789-91.
Several drawings, e.g. 3v, depict a nude male grasping a running female with upraised left arm, possibly Apollo and Daphne. Of interest is a sheet with numerous figure studies depicting a male figure sitting or bending over a reclining female (9). At the top of the sheet are four studies of a reclining nude female turned towards the viewer, her hands either to her face or on the ground supporting her body. This reclining figure is taken up a few sheets later (12) in a drawing which fills the page and is carefully shaded. Here, the woman's open hands are at her face and she appears surprised by something (not visible) in front of her on the ground. There are several variants of this drawing in the sketchbook.
One drawing (21) shows two figures in a small boat tossing in the waves; one with raised arms looks towards the shore towards a small settlement on the horizon beneath dark clouds blocking the sun, from which rays fan out in the sky above.
The remaining drawings offer either many small, varied studies on the page or focus on a single composition. Bottom, from A Midsummer Night's Dream with his ass's ears (in two studies) shares a page with dancing fairies and additional thumbnail figure studies. Other Shakespearean subjects also appear: Love, Hatred, and Jealousy from The Infant Shakespeare Attended by Nature and the Passions share a page with profile heads which evoke studies of Bolingbroke.
Other full page composition studies may relate to John Howard Visiting a Prison though additional figural groupings are more difficult to interpret. For example, one composition drawing features in the center a veiled woman and balding, bearded man with palms outspread, with cowering and agitated figures on either side; lightly sketched in the background left is a horse. Another sheet consists of thirteen pen and ink profile facial studies and three frontal studies of a nose and mouth as well as thumbnail sketches of flying figures.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.289 a-r.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite, brown ink, brown and grey wash over graphite on laid paper; 11 x 18.5 cm; 20 pages; paper, board and leather binding.
The sketchbook is inscribed on the back cover September 84. The most notable images include head, half- and three-quarter length studies of a seated female. In some, she wears a large-brimmed hat; in others she is shown with long strands of hair shooting outward from her face. In one drawing (6) she is shown in a pose resembling that of Emma Hart in Serena Reading the Gazette. In all these drawings, brush and wash are employed over graphite to clarify and complete the images – but this wash appears to have been applied by someone other than Romney. The resulting images have a ‘showy’, distinctly 20th-century feel.
Other drawings in the sketchbook have a more authentic character. These include studies of two standing women, two men seated on a hill, two women standing over a slumping male figure, a child balanced face down across a woman's lap, and several additional indistinct or scribbled drawings. In these, where wash has been used to enhance the image, it is more likely to have been employed by the artist.
Written inside the back cover is ‘Hero and Leander/The Lady and the Leaf/Dryden's Fables--/16 chapter of the Book/of Numbers’.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.290a-c (sketchbook pages); B1979.12.291-309 (separate items mounted in the sketchbook).
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and brown ink; 12 sketchbook pages and 19 loose drawings; sizes of sheets vary (those integral to the book 19 x 16.5 cm); board and suede with gold foil binding.
This is a haphazard compilation of drawings on leaves original to the sketchbook, drawings pasted onto original leaves, additional drawings taken from disparate sources and pasted onto non-integral leaves inserted into the book, loose drawings (some in French matting), and pages of script as well as script on narrow scraps of paper bound in. Even a small fragment of marbelized paper has been bound into the volume. The numbering sequence follows the order in which the drawings were arranged when the sketchbook was inventoried in 1963: 290a-c refer to three of the twelve original pages (it is unclear why the other original pages have no inventory number); 291-309 refer to inserted sheets.
One composition has been identified as Aeneas consulting the Cumaean Sibyl (290a); another depicts the Overpowering of Samson (290b, 290c). One drawing may depict a Presentation scene (293). An annotation (not in Romney's hand) identifies two standing figures as "Old Maids" (307).
The three matted drawings included in the volume are portrait studies, two of women (291, 305) and one of a child (302). A note in red pencil on the inside cover of the album, claims that 291 is a study for a portrait of Mrs. Bouvery Grosvenor Sr. ‘not mentioned by Roberts or catalogued/Comes from a sketchbook of 1774/5.’ Additional portrait studies depict a woman with either a child or children (295, 299, 303), and a standing male figure (308). There are several other drawings of standing figures, e.g. two striding figures (294) and a standing woman holding an object in her hands (306). No. 290b (verso) includes three studies of a reclining female nude.
Two slight architectural sketches depict a building (297) and an arch (298); there is a slight landscape sketch (301).
Written material in Romney's hand includes aides-memoire, lists of sitters, etc. Of particular interest is the draft of a letter the artist wrote before his departure from England for Italy, which seeks payment due for a portrait: ‘As I purpose leaving England in two or three weeks time I take the Liberty to remind you that Mr Smith’s Picture has not been payd for and to tell you that it would be doing me a great obligation to remittance of the above bill [etc]’.
Another sheet with notations in graphite and brown ink mentions Bartolozzi among other individuals. An itemized list of household furnishings and furniture (along with prices) includes the following: A Steele [sic] Stove with Irons, A Bed/A Carpet/Six Mahogany Back Stools in [illegible]/One Mahogany Card Table/One Pembroke Table/Six Chaires [sic] with matted seats/Two Loking [sic] glasses/one loking [sic] glass oval/one grate [illegible]/one mahogany Chest of Drawers. The items on the list reach a total of £55 16 shillings and 4 pence.
Inside the back cover of the album is inscribed in blue ink, not in Romney's hand, Lady Clanricarde 1783.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.600-601.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Pen and black ink with black wash and white chalk over graphite and brown ink and graphite; 2 pages; board and leather with gold foil binding; a matted sketch is glued to the front cover.
The female portrait clumsily mounted on the cover of this sketchbook is identified in the hand of Robert Rene Meyer Sée as being an ‘Early Portrait/of Emy Lyon/by George Romney’. However, there is no basis for this claim. Further, the brown ink wash and white chalk applied over Romney's authentic faint graphite sketch is an awkward addition, presumably applied by the same hand that compromised the integrity of the drawings in Yale No.2.
Included within the sketchbook covers are two leaves. On the first, written vertically in brown ink in Romney's hand, is: White [?] 46 pr hundred/Linseed oil 6 shillings/per gallon/Turpentine 8---. Also on this sheet, written horizontally, is G Romney. In a blue chalk inscription written below, Sée claims this to be Romney's signature. However, Patricia Jaffé, in a 1979 note inserted into the sketchbook disputes this. A second interleaved sheet, larger than the first, has graphite sketches on both the recto and verso which probably depict the mariners from the Shipwreck Scene from The Tempest.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.5
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.602a-d.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink over graphite on paper; 16.5 x 25.5 cm; 4 pages; some pages removed; board and leather binding.
An inscription on p. 1, not in Romney's hand, reads ‘Plans for the/ House to be built at/ Hampstead/Sketches: Weird Sisters. Lapland W/ and Miltonic Scenes (1794, 5, 6) Scenes’. All that remain, however, are four drawings of house plans (1v; 2, 3,4) plus one elevation drawing (4v), presumably for Prospect House, the domicile Romney built on Holly Bush Hill in Hampstead. Romney had written Hayley in June 1795 of his intention to ‘build me a house which I hope will inspire me with new vigour ...’. The house as built accommodated a spacious double storied columned gallery for the display of Romney's casts as well as a large studio.
The plans sketched herein are notable for containing a large square room, half of which projects outward from the short side of the rectangular house. The room contains a circular colonnade inscribed within the square. At the back of the square, stairs lead to an upper level. Such a design, as David Cross has noted, echoes the Cortile Belvedere in the Vatican, in which classical sculptures are displayed, including the Laocoon group, of which Romney owned a plaster cast. Romney was also influenced by English architectural examples. The central gabled feature in the elevation drawing, projecting forward and raised on a ground story, is reminiscent of Lord Burlington and William Kent's Chiswick House, the initial prototype for Palladian architecture in England. In designing his house, Romney reveals the impact made upon him by his Italian study of antique sculptures as well as his immersion in the precepts of Neoclassical architecture in England.
An inscription on the inside back cover reads: Ticket for Mr Hayley 43-544/cost 8-12-8.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.6
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.754a-x.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite; 14 x 23.5 cm; 24 pages with 30 drawings; board and leather binding.
The front cover of the sketchbook is inscribed in ink 1 - June '93. The first drawing depicts Satan holding aloft a shield as seen in studies for The Fall of the Rebel Angels from Book I of Milton's Paradise Lost; the tumbling bodies of his host appear to the left and below. Additional drawings featuring Satan relate to this theme (1v [left], 11v, 13, 13v, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22.) although one of these (14), in which Satan's followers raise up their arms towards him may relate to 'Satan Rallying His Host', the following episode in Paradise Lost.
Five drawings depict the Banquet Scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth (8, 9, 10, 11, 12). These indicate that Romney was still pursuing this theme in 1793, though it was vain to think a commission for a painting on the subject would be forthcoming from John Boydell for the Shakespeare Gallery. These drawings revert to the compositional arrangement for the Banquet Scene used by Romney in a 1786 sketchbook and a large-scale drawing in the Folger Library, in which the ghost of Banquo stands or hovers at the left, with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth standing in at the center, the guests to the right.
Another subject for which Romney produced a voluminous number of drawings in the early 1790s is also represented here, John Howard Visiting a Prison (5v, 6, 7). Several drawings on an unidentified theme include studies of reclining figures and figures leaning over a reclining male figure. Two final drawings in the sketchbook feature a closely packed crowd of individuals, some of whom seem to be in the process of being dragged off to prison (or Hell?). One figure's hands are bound behind his back; women at the center are being pushed along; and a figure at the right is being dragged along by the hair. To the left rear, an indistinct seated figure may represent someone sitting in judgment. The subject is an unfamiliar one, powerful in the sense of menace it conveys.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.7
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1980.30.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (?part of lot 38; bought by C. Fairfax Murray) [on the assumption that this, rather than Fitzwilliam No.3, is the sketchbook described in T. Humphry Ward and William Roberts: Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonne of his Works (1904) vol. 1 pp. 35-6]; ... Christopher Powney; ... Henry L. Stern Ltd.; from whom bought in 1980 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and brown ink; 16.5 x 11 cm; 170 pages, unnumbered; vellum binding.
This sketchbook was used by Romney during his stay in Italy. He left England on 20 March 1773, and some jottings in the sketchbook were apparently made en route. The artist's name and the date June 5 1773 appear in the sketchbook; and Livorno (Leghorn) is mentioned (Romney sailed from Genoa to Leghorn). Romney arrived in Genoa by May 29th, and proceeded to view works of art in palaces and churches. A drawing of a half-length portrait of a bearded man wearing a ruff is presumably after Van Dyck and could have been made in Genoa.
In Florence Romney continued his study of works of art. He visited Florence both on his way to Rome in 1773 and on his return to England in 1775, and he presumably used this sketchbook on both occasions since notations in the sketchbook relate to his homeward travel plans.
Artists mentioned in the sketchbook include Rembrandt, Masaccio, Ghiberti, Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Fra Bartolommeo. A notation [not in Romney's hand] states that, to see a Fra Bartolommeo painting in San Marco, one should arrive ‘between ten and eleven/speak to the Apothecary in Patch's name’. Thomas Patch was an English artist who was a long- time resident of Florence. In a list of tasks to perform on his return to London, Romney mentions Johann Zoffany, who had been sent by Queen Charlotte to Florence in 1772 to paint his The Tribuna of the Uffizi and was still in Florence when Romney returned there in 1775: Enquire for a Case of mahogany of M Zoffany at Mr Dale’s in Newport Street and send it toFlorence but remember to open it - also have some firearms examined-- Call on Mr Dalton and looke at a Picture of the Flight into Egypt by Mr. Zoffany--.
Drawings of several of Michelangelo's works in Florence appear in the sketchbook, including three drawings of the Bacchus in the Bargello. These particular drawings are curious as they could not have been done before the motif for the reason that, in contrast to the original, Bacchus' left hand, rather than his right hand, holds the wine cup and his left leg, not his right one, is bent. This must mean the Romney was working from an engraving. Curiously, another drawing after Michelangelo, of the Madonna and Child from the Medici Tombs in San Lorenzo was done from the motif, taking the view from the front left. That this sketchbook was also in use in Rome is shown by a drawing of Psyche being rowed by Charon across the Styx, clearly influenced by Charon's boat Michelangelo's in The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Other drawings, which copy classical works in Rome, include a profile of the head of Zeus and two studies of Laocoon's right foot.
Drawings in the sketchbook reflect the artist's familiar preoccupations: There are some thirty-five landscapes of various sorts; most here are slight, indistinct sketches, some mere scribbles. Copies after works of classical and Renaissance art have been alluded to above; there are numerous figure studies and suggestions for subject pictures. Two vivid studies of enraged faces with flowing hair, expressing their fury through bulging eyes and bow-shaped open mouths remind us of the artist's interest in stylized studies of expression. His keen interest in the study of anatomy is evidenced by an écorché (buttocks and right leg). Also included are several portrait studies, e.g. of a mother and child (repr. Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002) fig. 35). Drawings in the sketchbook vary from scribbles and vague suggestions to carefully shaded studies of heads e.g of a bearded, bald old man. In most cases subjects are limited to single examples though there are two drawings of a seated woman with elbows on a table (as well as the three of Michelangelo's Bacchus).
One complex composition comprises nine mourning figures surrounding a figure laid out upon a bier. Two of the mourners gesticulate with broad upstretched arms; two others hold their arms to their faces; one sits on the floor in front of the bier. This is a generic mourning scene, probably a composition taken from a Baroque work, one not yet identified. The scene provides the germ of such compositions as the Death of Sigismunda, the Liverpool cartoon which Romney may have completed while in Italy (see Louvre No.4).
Notations in the sketchbook include various ideas for subject pictures. Among those which can be deciphered are the following [Romney's spelling retained]: Cupid and Psyche, Pan and Syrinx embracing, Mars and Venus, Hygea, Ephugenie, The nut Brown made, A Bacconti, A Muse, Agripene, Venus and Cupid at the beginning of Venus and Adonis in Ovid, Psyche in Different parts, Lucrecia, Ceres, a young Jupiter with his two woman attendants, Two Baccenti figures. Later in the sketchbook is a description of Niobe's family, detailing their poses. ‘1 the mother/2 sons with his arm over the left shoulder/3 ditto over the right/4 ditto looking up over the right shoulder/5 the youngest daughter/6 the elegant one’.
Of interest is an extensive quotation from a poem describing classical grave rituals: ‘There mournful Obseques/and on the ground-/With all the Rites the mixd/libation pour-/Blood, water, Milke from/mountain [illegible] drawn-/The Bees sweet Tribute and/the vine rich juice/ An offering over gratefull/to the dead ...’. As a visual reflection of these lines, a figure holding a libation bowl (Sorrow) was soon to appear in Romney's cartoon of Nature unveiling herself to the Infant Shakespeare.
Three pages of script are particularly interesting for demonstrating Romney's close study of another artist's painting technique and his acute abilities for observation. Romney provides a very close analysis of Van Dyck's method of applying pigments as observed in a painting in the possession of ‘Mr. Jenkins’, i.e. the painter, antiquarian and dealer Thomas Jenkins, based in Rome. Romney notes: ‘The ground before the finishing/has been lighter than the finish/both in the boy and its mother/ ... the degredations are/ purpleish or blueish and seem/ to be a medium between vermilian/ and yellow okre painted exceeding/ thin or glaised- there is an/ exceding tenderness between the/ flesh and hair which is between/ a flaxen and a yellow, and the/ tint that unites them is/ purpleish mixed with the hair/ colour-the deeper shadows/ are vermilian and black/ very thin - with sometimes a little/ yellow okre ...’ [and etc.] The full transcription (with spelling and punctuation corrected) is found in T. Humphry Ward and William Roberts: Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonne of his Works (1904) vol. 1, pp. 35-6.
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APPENDIX A
These sketchbooks have appeared on the market in recent years, but did not enter public collections.
ABBOTT AND HOLDER SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: This sketchbook was disbound in 2016 for exhibition and sale. Pages 5, 9, 11, 17, 23 and the binding are in The Higgins, Bedford (Inventory numbers P10121-25; five drawings on John Howard subjects) and P10126; binding). The rest are in private collections.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3); Abbott and Holder, London, George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook B’.
Description: Pencil on wove paper; 14 x23 cm; 38 pages unnumbered; Whatman watermark; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The sketchbook is another of the small, marbled volumes Romney used during the early and mid-1790s, this one perhaps c.1793. It is inscribed Satan / Howard to the front and contains a sequence of thirteen drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison followed by three drawings for The Effects of Envy and Pride.
The drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison are late in the development of the composition, Romney’s concentration having settled on the writhing mass of bodies of the prisoners. Made quickly, the drawings are mostly expressive compositional studies, counterbalanced by fewer pages with drawings for some of the individual groups of figures - a characteristic honing-in on elements of what might otherwise appear to be a rather vague composition.
The three drawings for The Effects of Envy and Pride similarly concentrate on certain elements of the composition, bringing clarity to the relationship between some of the figures and what they are doing. The title ‘Satan’ to the cover of the sketchbook may relate to these works - the composition is clearly an amalgamation of episodes from Paradise Lost - and if so is surely essential in understanding the picture. But, as ever, the relationship between the inscriptions to the covers of Romney’s sketchbooks and their contents is to be treated with caution. It is just as likely that Romney titled the sketchbook intending to treat a different subject.
Other than one small study for an unidentified composition, no other subjects appear in the volume. This, and the fact that the book has been used in its entirety, in one direction, gives it a sense of consistency that is unusual for Romney’s sketchbooks of the period, and serves as a reminder that he was perfectly capable of prolonged sessions of concentrated thought on one subject.
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ABBOTT AND HOLDER SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: This sketchbook was disbound in 2016 for exhibition and sale. Pages 23, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51 and the binding are in the RIBA Collections, inventory no. SKB469/1. The rest are in private collections.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3, part); Abbott and Holder, London, George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook C’.
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on wove paper; 14x23 cm; 52 pages unnumbered; Whatman 1794 watermark; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The marbled cover of this volume is not titled. The inside cover is inscribed Stuart Athens and the inside back inscribed Mr Mambern(?) / Holes(?) Street N12 / (…) 6 Evening. Page 49 is also inscribed Aldergate Street | Elephant and Castle / to go from there, tomorrow morning / early -.
The sketchbook has been used in both directions. In one, it starts with a sequence of eight drawings for A Shipwreck at the Cape of Good Hope. These rare sheets treat each main element of the composition as it is known from the engraving by William Blake - the figure of Wolraad Woltemade on his horse rescuing the drowning from the water; the female figure washed in by the waves at the lower right of the picture; and the passengers of the sinking ship reaching for the sails and mast in desperation. These are so close to the finished picture that the drawings were either made very late in the development of the composition, or this is a rare case of Romney feeling his initial designs needed little re-working. As Alex Kidson noted in his introduction to these drawings in the Abbott and Holder exhibition catalogue, it is a perverse fact that John Howard, for which there are hundreds of known drawings, never made it off the page and onto canvas, while this subject, for which so few drawings are known, made it at least as far as an oil sketch (now lost).
Opened in the other direction, the sketchbook contains sixteen architectural plans and elevations that are ideas for the house and studio Romney would eventually build in Hampstead. These are a common appearance in Romney’s sketchbooks of the mid-1790s.
Interspersed within these architectural sketches are five drawings for a subject known only through one other drawing, in the National Gallery of Scotland. A group of women process up a hill, hands outstretched, towards a small temple building where a female figure stands to great them. One of these sheets is inscribed Entrust thy care to Truth alone / And Rugged Virtue will guard thy Throne in Romney’s hand. The lines appear again, with variations and corrections, on another sheet, providing clear evidence the couplet was composed by Romney.
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APPENDIX B
The Truro Sketchbooks
Eight Romney sketchbooks were amongst the paintings and drawings Alfred De Pass (1861-1952), a South-African businessman, gave to the Royal Institution of Cornwall between 1914 and 1935. The sketchbooks all appear in George Penrose’s 1936 museum catalogue of the De Pass Collection.
In 1956 the eight sketchbooks were at the Courtauld Institute, where they were photographed, perhaps in preparation for the 1957 travelling Arts Council Exhibition of Drawings from the Alfred A. de Pass Collection belonging to the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro, in which two sheets from one of the sketchbooks were exhibited (exhibition nos. 57 and 58).
Three of these sketchbooks remained at the Courtauld until 2005, when they were returned to the Royal Cornwall Museum (ex Royal Institution of Cornwall). They appear in this catalogue as Truro Sketchbooks Nos. 1-3. The remaining five were sold at Christie’s on Tuesday 22nd February 1966 (lots 21- 25) along with other drawings given to the Royal Institution of Cornwall by De Pass.
Of the five sketchbooks that were sold, three are now in public collections. Lot 21 is Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.2, Lot 22 is Stanford Sketchbook No.1, and Lot 23 is British Museum Sketchbook No.3. Of the other two sketchbooks in the sale, Lot 24 was disbound and the individual sheets sold, and Lot 25 is unaccounted for. But as the Witt library has a full photographic record of these two sketchbooks, soon to be available online, entries for both are given below. For ease of identification, the sketchbooks are referred to by the titles allocated them in the Witt Library.
TRURO SKETCHBOOK C
Location: This sketchbook has been dis-bound and the individual sheets dispersed. Some of the pages that have appeared on the market in recent years are …
p.19 Christie’s, New York, 13 January 1993 (132)
p.21 Christie’s, 10 July 2012 (30)
p.47 Sotheby’s, 9 January 1996 (166); Christies 7 December 2016 (174)
p.79 Christie’s, New York, 29 January 2015 (103)
Provenance: … Alfred De Pass; by whom given to The Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1923; Christies 22 February 1966 (24); bought by Christopher Powney; …
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cms; 114 pages numbered recto and verso in the Witt Library; the binding not photographed.
This sketchbook is dated ‘Nov 1783’ inside the front cover. It contains three notes of money received on account from Romney. Two, for £10 (dated Nov 5th 1783) and for £20 (dated Nov 12th 1783) are signed ‘Gilpin’, presumably the animal painter Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807). The third, for £10 (dated Nov 14th 1783) is signed Elmer, presumably the animal painter Stephen Elmer (1715-1796). Romney’s generosity in lending money is well noted, but payments on account made to two animal painters in the same month might suggest Romney had engaged them professionally. The sketchbook contains studies for A Girl with her Dead Fawn, the painting John Romney claimed was left unfinished only ‘for want of a fawn to paint after’, and a number of studies for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy, for which Thomas Robinson noted that Sawrey Gilpin had painted the lions. It would be a leap to connect the payments here with either of these pictures, but both are a good example of instances in which Romney might have considered a collaborative enterprise in the same vein as William Hodges’ Jacques and the Stag, on which Romney and Gilpin also worked.
Extensive notes and jottings appear on the pages at both ends of the sketchbook. Those inside the front cover refer to the delivery of his portraits of Miss Catherine Holford (for which he received payment in February 1783) and Charles Agar (begun in 1782). A note on p.113 ‘Mrs Ord [sic] Picture to be finished’, probably refers to his portrait of Sir John Orde, which he began in 1782 but was perhaps commissioned by his wife Margaret, who he had married in 1781.
On p.114 is a list of people who owed Romney money for portraits. As ‘Mr Knight’, who paid Romney for the portrait of his wife Catherine on 26th November 1783 is scored through, but ‘Mr Herun’ (sic, Heron), who paid for his portrait on 21st December 1783 is not, suggests Romney had put the sketchbooks aside at some point between these two dates. The appearance of ‘Duke of Marlborough’ in pencil underneath this list is perhaps not a reference to a debt, but more likely a reminder to pursue work on his portraits of the Duke and Duchess, begun in 1779, and for which they had sat again in May and April 1783 respectively. Drawings on pages 96 and 97 strongly resemble the portraits.
Although many of the drawings in the sketchbook are for as yet unidentified subjects, there is some overlap with the contents of sketchbooks of a similar date, notably Truro Sketchbook No.2 and the Houston Sketchbook. Significantly, the current volume contains a number of studies for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy, the picture that developed out of the Infancy of Jupiter, which appears in the Houston Sketchbook. That sketchbook is dated September 1783, further supporting the evidence that Romney was using this sketchbook in, or around, November of 1783.
Drawings for identifiable subjects include studies for A Girl with her Dead Fawn and The Destruction of Niobe’s Children, a subject Romney was either reviving or had continued to consider since the 1770s. Drawings of children, and, separately, of a reclining female figure, relate to Romney’s various paintings of Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, most notably Titania Reclining with her Indian Votaries, and Titania’s Attendants Chasing Bats. However, some of the drawings of a reclining woman may relate to Emma as Alope - the child who modelled for this picture was the same son of a guardsman who modelled for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy.
There are some drawings for portraits in the sketchbook, including a study of a woman leaning on a ledge or pedestal, which can be loosely related to a number portraits Romney was working on at or around this date. There are also studies for an equestrian portrait, a format rare in Romney’s oeuvre, although he was working on a few around this date: those of Samuel Hartley, who had sittings in November 1783, Colonel Jacob Camac, who sat to Romney the same month, and John Christian, who had sat to Romney in 1782, but whose portrait was likely ongoing. It is worth noting that studies for an equestrian portrait also appear in the similarly dated Truro Sketchbook No.2, the Houston Sketchbook, and Truro Sketchbook D.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK D
Location: Unknown.
Provenance: … Alfred De Pass; by whom given to The Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1923; Christies 22 February 1966 (25); bought by Spanierman.
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on paper; 15 x 19 cms; 137 pages numbered recto and verso in the Witt Library; brown leather binding (not photographed at the Witt).
According to Christie’s 1966 lot cataloguing, the cover of this sketchbook was inscribed ‘June 1784 from January’. But dating is never a simple issue with Romney sketchbooks, and the waters are muddied here by the appearance of ‘Thursday 10th January’ inside the cover - 10th January fell on a Thursday in 1782. The January - June 1784 date range is well supported, however, by the numerous other notes and names of sitters in the volume. As with Truro Sketchbook C, there is a list of debtors on which ‘Mr Drumand’ (sic), who probably paid for his portrait in early 1784, is crossed through, while ‘Lord Malden’, who Romney painted in 1781 but paid for his portrait only in October 1788, is not. Furthermore, a note on page 9, ‘Mr Newbery / will sit Thursday / 10 of June / at one o’clock’ supports the cover dating as Romney did indeed paint Francis Newbery in 1784, and 10th June fell on a Thursday that year…
That this sketchbook was in use soon, or immediately after Truro Sketchbook C, is also confirmed by a certain overlap in contents; studies for an equestrian portrait, studies of children (some seemingly drawn from life, others probably for Titania’s attendants) and reclining female figures relating to Romney’s Titania subjects as well as Emma as Alope. However, as Emma Hart had resuming sitting for Romney in December of 1783, just as the Truro Sketchbook C was being set aside, it is no surprise that she dominates the volume. Indeed, the extent to which she does is a valuable gauge of just how much she took over his creative energies.
There is a portrait study of a woman in a hat that may relate to the portrait of Emma now in the Huntington Library which was commissioned by Charles Greville and probably begun in late December 1783. There are drawings for Emma as a Bacchante, again begun late in 1783, and drawings for Emma as Cassandra, certainly begun before Emma’s departure for Italy in March 1786. There are also some sheets with figures that on first inspection seem to relate to the lost Initiation of a Rustic Nymph, but which are perhaps studies relating to Emma in a Fortune Telling Scene, which derived from the former composition and was begun soon after her return in late 1783.
All in all, both Truro sketchbooks, with their density of drawings for numerous, wide-ranging subjects, the re-appearance of Emma Hart and her influence, along with the extensive notes, lists and receipts, give a vivid sense of Romney’s life at the height of his popularity. The sketchbooks are marked with energy and confidence, a place where he juggled ideas for subject pictures and the practicalities of an increasingly busy professional life. With hindsight, of course, there is the sense of foreboding that his aspirations for the former would be consumed by the latter, and his relentless, creative burning of the candle at both ends would result in the physical and mental weaknesses that were to mark his later years.
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Location: Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Department of Manuscripts and Printed Books.
Inventory No. FM2425*
Provenance: ... L. G. H. and A. J. H. Smith; by whom given in October 1940 through the National Art-Collections Fund to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of sketches (chiefly in graphite) and manuscript; 14 x 23.5 cm; 18 pages; some pages removed; board binding.
This is a very slight sketchbook, whose contents are chiefly house plans. They may reflect Romney’s ideas of acquiring a new property outside London and if so must date from the mid- to late-1790s. One double spread contains a draft letter (to Hayley) beginning with the words: "I have not much to say at present", overdrawn with the figure of an extended male nude.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c59.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Maggs Bros., London; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1918.
Description: Graphite and brown ink and wash on paper; 15.5 x 19.5 cm; 66 numbered leaves, most with drawings on the recto; three leaves with drawings on the verso; four leaves blank; a page not included in the numbering has been removed between pages 60 and 61; watermark of Britannia holding an olive branch and spear; paper and leather binding; taken apart for conservation in 1998 and subsequently rebound.
The only written material in the artist's hand in this sketchbook is the words Macbeth/Midsummer's Dream/McBeth upside down on the back cover, written in brown ink. Two subjects from Macbeth are dealt with in this sketchbook: the Banquet Scene and the Cavern Scene. There are numerous drawings of the Banquet Scene (12-15; 17-18; 49-53, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65 [bottom]). These illustrate the lines, "Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!/Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold./Thou has no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with!" (Act 3, sc. 4, 93-96). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stand to the left; the guests are seated at a table to the right; the ghost of Banquo hovers over the table behind. One of the most powerful drawings in the series (12) depicts the figure of Macbeth alone.
Drawings for the Cavern Scene from Macbeth are nearly as numerous (24-26, 34, 37-38, 44, 46 46v, 47, 55-56, 62, 62v and possibly 48). These depict Macbeth's second encounter with the witches (Act IV, Sc. 1). The basic composition devised by the artist, which compresses the action of the play, includes Macbeth at the left with witches standing and kneeling in the center and dancing about a cauldron to the right.
No single drawing contains the entire composition; rather Romney concentrates on discrete elements: Macbeth; individual witches; the witches dancing about the cauldron. Symptomatic of Romney's restless, wandering creativity is a drawing of dancing witches (44), which is immediately followed by a drawing of dancing fairies (45) on an entirely different subject, taken from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Altogether there are fourteen drawings in the sketchbook on A Midsummer Night's Dream (20-23, 27-28, 30-33, 36, 42, 45, 58). Romney's subject is from the beginning of Act II, Sc. 2, where Titania commands her fairies to sing her a lullaby: "Come, now a roundel and a fairy song; /Then, for the third part of a minute, hence-/Some to kill cankers in the musk- rose buds,/Some war with reremice for their leathern wings,/To make my small elves coats, and some keep back/The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots' and wonders/At our quaint spirits. Sing me now asleep. /Then to your offices, and let me rest." Various elements of the scene are treated: the reclining Titania; dancing fairies; and fairies chasing bats. In some of the drawings the action takes place in a landscape in front of a large tree. One additional slight landscape sketch (54) may also relate to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Non-Shakespearean subjects also appear in this sketchbook. There are fourteen drawings on the theme of John Howard's prison visits (1 v, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, 19, 16 [top], and 66). The composition devised on the theme in this particular sketchbook can be described as follows: Howard and the gaoler enter the prison cell from the left rear. The group of prisoners in the dark cell includes a seated figure at the left; a nude male lying face up in the center; and, to the right, a woman reclining on a bench accompanied by two small children (for a similar grouping of some of these prisoners see Patricia Jaffe: Drawings by George Romney from the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge,
exhibition catalogue, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (1977) cat. 97, pl. 43). There was constant evolution in Romney's development of his basic Howard composition, and various sketchbooks and large-scale drawings show different groupings of figures. In some drawings Howard and the gaoler are prominent; in others the artist concentrates on the prisoners.
A running figure depicting Cassandra Raving is seen in two drawings, one of which splits the page with a portrait study of a seated woman in contemporary dress (no. 40; two studies of the same seated woman are seen in no. 39). Romney regularly complained about being ‘shackled’ to the drudgery of portrait painting, and the juxtaposition of a study for a subject picture next to a portrait study is indicative of his mind's escape from his ‘work’ to works of the imagination. At the same time, this particular juxtaposition is apt. Emma Hart returned to London in late May of 1791 and once again sat for Romney prior to her September 6th marriage to Sir William Hamilton. Just as Emma provided inspiration for Romney in his Cassandra studies, so here the seated woman in the portrait study may likewise represent Emma. Romney's portrait of Emma as The Ambassadress, in which she is seated, dates from 1791, while this sketchbook was in use.
In this sketchbook, Romney's creative concentration shifts rapidly from one subject to another. He begins with a series of ten drawings on the Prison theme, then produces six on the Banquet Scene from Macbeth. He then inserts one Prison drawing before moving on to a series of four drawings on A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next follow three drawings on the Cavern Scene from Macbeth. Thereafter the artist shifts rapidly from one theme to the other, sometimes producing only one drawing on a theme before switching to another subject, and never doing more than three or four drawings in succession on the same theme.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c60.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... C. Fairfax Murray; Maggs Bros., London, Cat. 368, No. 1318; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1918.
Description: Graphite on paper; 15.5 x 20 cm; 61 drawings on 107 numbered pages (numbering begins on the inside front cover, with the first page being numbered 2, and following rectos consecutively to 107; versos are not numbered, nor is the inside back cover); watermark of Britannia holding an olive branch and spear; sheepskin binding.
The sketchbook contains sixty-one drawings, plus written material, which includes the draft of a letter from Romney to Emma Hart. The letter can be dated to the summer of 1786, after Emma's departure for Naples. In the letter, Romney alludes to his having sent to Naples ‘your picture in black’, i.e. Lady Hamilton in Morning Dress, which Emma wrote Charles Greville on July 22, 1786, that she had requested Romney to send. Allusions in Romney's letter to certain current events (e.g. ‘the Prince of Wales giving up his Household to pay his debts and the attempt to assassinate the King by a Mad Woman’) further serve to date the letter. The sketchbook dates from 1786-87, a period when Romney was exploring initial ideas for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery.
Among the Shakespearean subjects which Romney contemplated painting for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery are Act 1 of The Tempest, and the Banquet Scene from Macbeth, drawings for both of which are found in this volume. There are also sketches which may possibly relate to The Infant Shakespeare attended by Nature and the Passions (101v, 102v, 103v).
One drawing in the sketchbook (no. 92v), is important because it relates to the artist's first idea for the composition of The Tempest for the Boydell Gallery, in which three figures, Prospero, Miranda and Caliban look out to sea, with a slight suggestion of the shipwreck in the distance. In the present drawing the figure of Caliban cannot be discerned, but Prospero and Miranda are depicted on a small scale in a stormy landscape. Romney was to alter this first idea to combine a close-up view of the shipwreck as well as Prospero and Miranda. ‘By this alteration’, John Romney writes, ‘he endeavoured to unite two principal actions, which were essentially distinct, though referring to one another – an anomaly in composition ...’. Additional Tempest sketches in the volume include 92, 94, and possibly 91 and 97.
Drawings for the Banquet Scene from Macbeth depict the action as it might have been seen on the contemporary stage, with the ghost of Banquo standing firmly on the ground, a full participant in the drama. On the other hand, drawings in Folger No.1, done some four or five years later, show the ghost hovering in the air above and behind the banquet table.
Other subjects include a youth seizing a maiden (83, 83v, 84, 84v, 85, 85v, 86v, 87, 87v, 88v, 89v, 90v), a reclining female and a male holding a staff (94v, 95v, 96v), and conjuring scenes, some of which bear comparison to drawings in Princeton No.3 and the Houston sketchbook. The volume also contains a number of figure drawings, some of them portrait studies.
Written material in the sketchbook, in addition to the draft of the letter to Emma Hart, includes a list of clothing, and, inside the back cover the following: ‘Picart's Religious Ceremonys/Universal Dictionary’. The former must refer to Bernard Picart's Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des Peuples Idolatres Representees par des Figures dessines de la Main de Bernard Picart, Amsterdam, 1723. This book contains, among a wealth of material, information on the religious rites and superstitions of the Laplanders. Romney depicted Lapland witches in a number of drawings and, though he did not himself read French, he may perhaps have obtained, with William Hayley's help, information regarding Lapland customs and beliefs from Picart's book.
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. c61.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Shepperson & Reynolds, London; Maggs Bros., London, Cat. 449, No. 368; bought by Henry Clay Folger, 1924.
Description: Ink and wash on cream laid paper; 9.5 x 16 cm; 74 pages, numbered 1-74; inside back cover numbered 75; before numbering, five leaves were removed between pages 67 and 68;
watermark of seated Britannia; sheepskin binding; unbound for conservation in 1998 and rebound in the original binding.
The sketchbook is notable for its concentration on a few themes, specifically John Howard visiting a Prison and Titania and her fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream. In dealing with these subjects, Romney initially runs a rapid-fire series of drawings on one theme and then moves in staccato fashion back and forth from one theme to the other.
Twenty-two drawings deal with the theme of John Howard visiting a Prison (1-8; 11-18; 24; 57-59; 64v, 65). Despite the small size of the page, in some instances two studies of the group of prisoners appear on the same page. In some of the drawings Howard and the gaoler can be discerned at the left, while notable among the prisoners is a man supporting a slumping female figure to the left of center. This is in contrast to prison scenes in Folger no. 1, in which a male figure stretched out on his back dominates the central space in many of the drawings. Each of these Folger sketchbooks repeats certain elements of the prison composition which are absent from groupings in the other sketchbook, showing how the subject evolved as the artist worked out compositional variants. Some of the drawings here are composed of the scantiest of scribbled lines, while others employ a strong ink line and dark areas of wash.
Thirty-eight drawings depict Titania and her fairies from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 [right], 41, 43, 44, 45, 46,47, 48, 48v, 49, 50, 50v, 51, 52, 52v, 53, 54, 54v 55, 56, 60, 61, 61 v). (Romney inscribed Queen Mab on the front cover of the sketchbook, and although today Mab is familiar as the witch described in the play Romeo and Juliet, the artist no doubt meant Titania – the Queen of the Fairies.) The pose of Titania in some of the drawings is the same as that in drawings in Folger No.1: a recumbent figure, elbows bent, her arms beside her face. In some instances Titania faces the viewer; in others, she turns her back. Attendant fairies are also present. However, a new pose for Titania is also introduced in this sketchbook, one in which she sits with knees bent, directly facing the viewer, fairy attendants on both sides.
The sketchbook also shows how Romney fused literary subjects with ideas for portraits. A number of drawings (27, 27v, 28, 34, 34v, 35, 38, 42, and 49) show a seated woman in contemporary dress and bonnet juxtaposed with fairies chasing bats and, in one instance (38), with Titania herself. These drawings provide an early indication of Romney's intent to use A Midsummer Night's Dream as a vehicle for portraiture. He would eventually do so in a portrait commissioned in 1795 by George, 3rd Earl of Egremont. The painting depicts four of the Earl's natural children with their mother, Elizabeth Iliff. In the painting, the mother reclines in a landscape with her back to the viewer; two of her children hold bows as one of them shoots at a bat. That A Midsummer Night's Dream was in Romney's mind as he worked on the painting is reflected in his letter to Hayley of October 6, 1795, ‘I long to hear of Eartham and Petworth, of my elves and fairies’.
Other drawings in the sketchbook include two of a woman rushing forward, arms outspread (9, 10), which may related to Joan of Arc, Lady Macbeth, or possibly a witch from Macbeth; and three studies of a woman's profile along with a composition showing a seated woman (20), no doubt portrait studies. There are also notes for a discourse on painting, written in Romney's hand (72v-74) (transcribed in Yvonne Romney Dixon: 'Designs From Fancy': George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D. C. (1998) pp. 232-233).
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FOLGER SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Inventory No. Art Vol. d127.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3, part); bought by Abbott and Holder, London [George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook A’]; from whom bought by the present owner.
Description: Pencil on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 46 pages unnumbered; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The cover of this slim volume, from which some sheets may have been lost or removed, is inscribed and dated NI / May 1792. The inside back cover is inscribed Old Brompton Road / past the [illegible] / turning to the / right at [?] Mrs / Knights / Down [?] lane.
The binding is identical to the two other sketchbooks that appeared at Bonham’s in July 2015 (lot 3) (see Appendix A) and also identical to Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.3 (inscribed August 1793). Although slightly different in size and format, it is also very close to British Museum Sketchbook No.2 (inscribed July 1792). Perhaps bought from the same stationer, these are all lightweight and easily carried, or indeed packed for summers at Eartham, when it is likely each was used, at least in part.
The drawings in the sketchbook are stylistically typical of the date, and given the subjects, there is no reason to doubt that Romney started to fill it in May 1792, presumably with the Macbeth drawings. However, as is often the case, the arrangement of the works suggests the book was used intermittently. Each ‘run’ of drawings may well have been put down in one sitting, but each subject quite possibly months apart.
Of the twenty-seven sides of drawings, six have studies for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth and eighteen for Paradise Lost. The Milton drawings include twelve for Ithuriel and Zephon finding Satan at the ear of Eve (Book IV) and eight for The Expulsion (Book XI). The two Milton episodes are at times worked on to the same pages, giving greater credence, visually at least, to the idea that they were being conceived in tandem, as a series of paintings (John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p. 223 and William Hayley: The Life of George Romney Esq. (1809), p. 212). The Macbeth drawings take up the composition at the later stages of its development, when Romney seems to have largely decided the arrangement of figures and is concentrating on subtleties of gesture, particularly in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Although there is one particularly fine, dramatic sketch of the entire composition.
There is a one drawing of a crouching female figure from an unidentified subject, and a drawing of a woman in contemporary dress, which has the feel of a sketch from life. There is also a small group of architectural plans, presumably ideas for Romney’s house/studio/gallery, the inclusion of which is typical of sketchbooks of this date, although they might well have been added much later.
Finally, but perhaps most significantly, there is a drawing inscribed The Effects of Envy and pride / for want of Faith / (for opposing factions / and thinking for yourself). This is a sketch of what is evidently, by this stage, a fully developed composition. Until now an entirely unknown subject, a great many previously unidentifiable drawings are clearly related to it, including a group that appear in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.3, which is inscribed to the cover … Prid [sic] and Fanaticism… Many of the main figural groups seem to derive in one way or another from Romney’s drawings for Milton, so it would seem the work relates to, or derives somehow from that project. But the composition is clearly a more ambitious, moral narrative or commentary that, given the number of related drawings, became a major preoccupation. It might well prove a valuable insight into Romney’s thoughts and beliefs at a time when there has been much speculation about his mental state.
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GETTY SKETCHBOOK
Location: Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Inventory No. 860577
Provenance: …Kenneth A. Lohf; from whom acquired in 1986 by the present owner.
Description: Pencil, pen, ink and wash on cream laid paper; 9.5 x 16 cm; 73 pages unnumbered; sheepskin binding with gold tooling and metal clasp.
This sketchbook is identical to Folger Sketchbook No.3, and bears the same label for the stationers Shepperson & Reynolds inside the cover. It is inscribed Milton on the outside, although the ink has faded, or perhaps come away from the sheepskin. Romney has used the book consistently, and in its entirety, from the ‘wrong’ end, and the cover, where Milton is inscribed, has become the back.
The sketchbook is extensively inscribed. The inside front has notes of dimensions, and, under what seems to be a list of wine and port costs/quantities, a date of October 22 1791. This is not a ‘start’, or purchase date for the sketchbook, and more likely relates to the notes above. However, it is entirely appropriate and roughly in keeping with the sketchbook drawings, and with the inscription on p.1 which reads Large Milton Newton[s?], which refers to the series of portraits of great English men of science and the arts that Romney was planning at this date.
Other inscriptions include a List of Books on the verso of p. 2 which is very hard to read (although it is not in Romney’s own hand); and on p. 72, Mr Huskison / at Mr Windsor’s / N1 St Thomas’s Street / Borough. The inside back cover has numerous seemingly unrelated, mostly faint and illegible, jottings, including an address N22 Waymouth [sic] Street, and the book title Townsend Travels into Spain (published 1791). There is also, fascinatingly, what appears to be a plan for a week spent at Eartham – Choses [sic] / Sunday from Earth[am] / Monday to Eartham - / Tuesday to Sea and back - / Wednesday no - / Thursday to sea and back / Friday – to sea. The shopping, or more likely packing list of clothing on p.73 may relate to the same trip and it is tantalising to think the sketchbook was taken to Eartham in the summer of 1791 or 1792.
The first drawing in the sketchbook is an ink study for Milton and His Daughters after which follow studies for the Banqueting Scene from Macbeth, in ink and in pencil. They were evidently drawn early in the working of the composition with the major arrangement of the figures still undecided. They give a fine sense of what Romney obviously felt was the fertile nature of the subject, and indeed his own powers of composition at the level of the rapid sketch.
There are a few drawings for John Howard visiting a Prison in the sketchbook, two for The Indian Woman from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a couple of costume studies in ink which may be for Lady Macbeth, and a handful of architectural plans and elevations which are presumably fantasies of what would become the Hampstead house and studio. The sketchbook is dominated, however, by a prolonged sequence of drawings for Paradise Lost, with drawings for Satan Rallying his Host, The Fall of the Rebel Angels, and scenes with Adam and Eve.
The combination of subjects and their arrangement – Romney working each intensely, before … it disappears, perhaps to re-appear some pages later – is entirely in keeping with other sketchbooks of early 1790s. However, it is possible Romney put the sketchbook aside after filling the initial pages, taking it up later for a concentrated Milton sitting, only then inscribing the outside.
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HOLBORN LIBRARY SKETCHBOOK
Location: Camden Libraries, Holborn branch, Theobald's Rd, London WC1.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the characteristic sale label has been partially torn away); ... Hampstead Library; transferred in 1965 to the present owner.
Description: A mixture of ink and graphite drawings on cream paper; 21 x 16.5 cm; 68 pages, unnumbered; two watermarks, one with a GR monogram and crown, one a figure standing on a plinth within a circular border; calfskin binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art.
This sketchbook was in use about 1770-71. Many of the subjects are unidentified, and their range is wide, but they overlap to only a limited degree with the contents of other sketchbooks from this period. Consequently this volume is a rich single source of information about the themes that were pre-occupying Romney at this time.
The most extensively studied subject involves two adult figures deliberating over a child, as it might be The Judgment of Solomon or The Finding of Moses. Another involves a fainting female figure being supported by two acolytes at the sight of a corpse at her feet while a further male figure steals away in the background. A third could potentially be a first brush with the subject of Fortune Telling. In each of these cases, there are sketches on nearby pages which look as if they could be for details of these compositions or variants of them. A further subject, in which a female kneels at the centre of a group of standing men, may well be The Accusation of Susannah, which certainly occurs in other sketchbooks of this period and which provides evidence that subjects which Romney is recorded as tackling in the years after his return from Italy were in fact adumbrated before his departure.
Three subjects in the sketchbook are certainly identifiable. One is the Mother and Child exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771. A second is Bathsheba at the Bath and a third Samson and Delilah. All of these, however, make a fleeting appearance. The number of pages devoted to them is much fewer than with the uncertain subjects referred to above.
There are a few studies for portraits in the sketchbook. One small group, twice identified in a later hand Duchess of Marlborough, is for the full-length of Mrs. Morewood. A second full-length female figure is less easily identifiable but could possibly be for Miss Joan Knatchbull. On one page there are three scrappy studies for an unidentified head and shoulders portrait of a young man resting on a book, in a pre-figurement of the treatment of Mrs Benedetta Day; and at the end of the sketchbook are two studies for an oval portrait of a mother and child in the pose of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia, which Romney used for his portrait of Mrs. Carwardine and her eldest son. That work is usually stated to be the first portrait Romney painted after he returned from Italy, but here may be evidence that it was actually commissioned, and started, before he left.
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HOUSTON SKETCHBOOK
Location: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, The Rienzi Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III in honor of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Brown, 1978. Inventory No. 78.187.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... J. P. Heseltine; ... Lord Nathan of Churt; Sotheby’s 14 November 1962 (50); bought by Sabin; from whom bought by Harris Masterson III; by whom presented in 1978 to the present owner.
Description: Ink, wash, black chalk and graphite on paper; 11.5 x 19 cm; 57 pages; a total of 59 drawings; calfskin binding.
This sketchbook is inscribed on the front cover Septr 83. As Patricia Jaffé pointed out (Drawings by George Romney from the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, exhibition catalogue, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (1977), p. 38), it contains a number of drawings related to the Infancy of Jupiter theme, depicting the child, the nanny goat that fed him, and women attendants. Relevant sheets are 3v, 4, 5, 6, 14, 21, 22, 23, 34, 45, 46, 51, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57v, and 58. Particularly appealing and expressive of Romney's verve as a draftsman is the first of these drawings (3v) of the rearing goat. The fluidity of Romney's approach to subjects is evident in the allusions to various subjects within these drawings. For example, nos. 45 and 46 might relate as easily to the ‘goat tipping over the milkmaids' pail’ (see John Romney: Memoirs of the Life and Works of George Romney […] (1830) p.147) as to the Infancy of Jupiter theme; a further drawing (37) depicting a kneeling girl, accompanied by animals, casting her eyes towards an object on the ground surely represents that subject. Studies of the child and his attendants evolved into Romney's designs for The Infancy of Shakespeare, and later drawings in the Houston series (55, 56v, 57, 57v, and 58), without the goat, edge more towards the Shakespeare, than the Jupiter configuration.
The fact that the goat subject occurs at three separate points within the sketchbook, with several drawings in succession on each occasion, may suggest that the sketchbook was filled up with drawings over a short period of time. This is interesting because there are connections with subjects associated with later periods in Romney’s career. For example, the figures to the left in no. 29 are close to representations of Canidia and the Youth, a subject the artist was concerned with around 1789-91. A conjuring scene (31) forecasts elements of Bolingbroke and the Fiend, a subject Romney worked on in the latter 1780s, intending it for the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. The forceful male to the right of the cauldron may be an early idea for the figure of Bolingbroke. Witches in two other drawings (33, 36) forecast drawings of the early 1790s of witches on the heath from Macbeth (see Yvonne Romney Dixon: 'Designs From Fancy': George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C.(1998) pl. 44). Romney was drawn to scenes of witchcraft throughout his career, and elements of various different scenes of witchcraft often overlap, as here.
The Houston sketchbook reflects the range of subjects found in many of Romney's sketchbooks: landscapes, figure studies, studies of expression, as well as ideas for subject pictures which captured his imagination but which rarely resulted in finished paintings.
One of the as yet unidentified compositions (8) depicts three adults leaning over a rectangular monument; two nude infants stand beside them; in the middle ground are a building to the left and a group of figures to the right; in the distance a landscape opens up. Variants of the composition are nos. 25 and 26. Other intriguing, unknown subjects include figures sitting on a rock in a wide landscape (27); and figures on horseback, apparently crossing a river, with trees to the left and mountains behind (44).
Amongst figure studies are two drawings with women (10, 11), in which the poses are particularly graceful, and one forceful drawing with two studies of a standing male nude (12). Others include dancing and lunging figures (47); a man carrying a sword and shield, with an unrelated standing woman (49); and a woman reclining on the ground (52). The most powerful drawing in this sketchbook, and one of the most appealing in any of Romney's sketchbooks, is the dynamic man on horseback in no. 50.
A drawing of cavorting infants (48) illustrates Romney's interest in young children, suggesting other such subjects as Boys on the Seashore and the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here one babe at the left lies on its back, one leg in the air; another at the right holds streamers in his upraised arms.
Studies of expression include a hook-nosed, bearded old man in profile (9). Mouth open and teeth exposed, he evokes later depictions of satyrs. Two additional formulaic studies of expression occur in no. 13. The sketchbook has pure landscapes (20, 24, 28 and 53) as well as compositions with landscape backgrounds (7, 8 25, 26, 27, 44).
A drawing of three horsemen (17) as well as other drawings in the sketchbook have parallels in Princeton No. 1. The Houston sketchbook is unusual among sketchbooks surviving from the rnid-1780s in that most of its drawings are in ink and ink and wash instead of graphite. Many are bold and assured, and some extraordinarily forceful. Premier among these is the powerful man on horseback (50), alluded to above.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 65.3.
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the sketchbook bears the characteristic blue- edged sale label but the number has been obliterated); ... Jeremy Maas; from whom bought in 1965 by the present owner.
Description: Ink, ink and wash and graphite sketches on paper; 23.5 x 18.5 cm; 75 pages, numbered 1-150 (the front and back endpapers are also numbered 0 and 151 respectively); watermark of the initials GR under a horn under a crest; vellum and board binding. Partially photographed.
This sketchbook stands apart from the others in this catalogue. The drawings in it are not studies for paintings, nor are they exercises in technique. Instead they are the expression of the deepest recesses of Romney's mind: his desires and hatreds, fears and anxieties. For the view it offers into the artist's psyche, it is the most important surviving sketchbook. It seems probable that Romney regarded it in a special light, using it for drawings that bore no connection with his public works.
The volume was the last item in the 2002 Romney exhibition. On the front endpaper of the sketchbook there is a note in Romney's hand referring to a sermon preached in 1796, proving that he was using it after that date, and a number of the drawings clearly are those of an enfeebled and disturbed old man. Nevertheless, the suggestion belatedly made in the catalogue entry that Romney could have begun using the sketchbook as a young man seems preferable to the view that the contents are exclusively from the later 1790s. The largest group of sketches in it are savage and melancholic caricatures, presumably of people known to Romney. They are carried out in ink, in a laboured and mechanical style employing cross- hatching, which is about as far away from his standard dense tonal pencil drawing of the mid 1790s as it would be possible to get, but much closer in feel to certain ink drawings on Shakespearean themes ascribed to the 1760s. These caricatures tie in with Adam Walker's description of Romney's life in Kendal shortly before he left for London in 1762: ‘feeling with indignant pride his genius and fancy cramped by the cares of a family, in a country incapable of appreciating or rewarding the powers he felt within himself, he grew peevish and painted Satyr and Caricature of those who might have encouraged him ...’.
The remaining contents of the sketchbook are diverse in subject matter and style. They include a number of mathematical formulae transcribed for the artist whose significance remains uncertain but may be related to Romney's aspirations as an architect. (There are also a number of sketches of imaginary buildings.) Scattered through the book (e.g. on pp. 39, 59, 125) there are ethereal studies in grey wash of landscapes recalling the Lake District; the one on page 39 shows a girl pining under a tree and may reflect his lifelong guilt at abandoning his wife. Perhaps connected with these feelings are two sinister drawings (pp. 33, 109), which recall Fuseli's Nightmare, of a huge incubus nibbling at the breast of a corpse. Perhaps evincing the same feelings of guilt is a grotesque recollection (p. 113) of Emma, and on page 83, pasted in, a grinning head of the actress Miss Wallis as Mirth, whose appearance in this context may re-inforce the idea that Romney was briefly infatuated with her. Two male heads, one young and one old (pp. 29, 81), may tentatively be proposed as self-portraits on the basis of resemblance.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 66.14.
Provenance: ... Christopher Powney; from whom bought in 1966 by the present owner,
Description: Graphite on cream wove paper; 14.5 x 23.5 cm; 26 pages, numbered 1-52; no watermark; board and leather binding. Partially photographed.
Romney's inscription on the front cover, October 1792, No.3 carries the implication that the sketchbook was in use over a brief period (two other sketchbooks were evidently on the go in that month alone). This is borne out by the stylistic homogeneity of the contents: all dense, reductive pencil sketches on a few themes.
The subjects were identified by Pat Jaffé on a visit to the Huntington in 1992, as follows: pages 1-15: The Opening of the Ark (from the description in Book 11 of Milton's Paradise Lost); page 17: Milton Dictating to his Daughters; pages 19-29: The Opening of the Ark; pages 31-35: John Howard Visiting a Prison; page 36: Milton Dictating; page 37: Titania Reclining; page 39: Milton Dictating; page 41: The Banquet Scene from 'Macbeth'; page 42: John Howard Visiting a Prison; page 43: The Banquet Scene from 'Macbeth'; pages 44- 52: John Howard Visiting a Prison. The sketchbook may be said to encapsulate Romney's creative instincts in his later years. He continues to mull over subjects that have been pre-occupying him now for several years (for example Macbeth and John Howard) but his energies are chiefly reserved for a 'new' one (The Opening of the Ark) which must have been suggested to him in the course of studying Milton with Hayley and Cowper at Eartham a few weeks before.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 96.2.
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; that it was in the sale is stated in a manuscript note on the first page of the sketchbook); ... Ken Spelman; from whom bought in 1995 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly graphite drawings, but one group in sepia ink on cream laid paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cm; 48 pages, unnumbered; many pages probably removed; no watermark; binding absent. but fragments of leather remain on the spine.
This sketchbook is not easy to date. The surviving contents, which must be the rump of a once fatter volume, are chiefly sketches for whole-length female portraits; plus a scattering of studies of a male figure holding a horse which are the only ones drawn in ink. None of these have so far been related to an identified painting. On the basis that Romney only occasionally made studies for portraits by around 1785, the sketchbook can be assumed to date from before this.
At the end of the volume various names appear in drafts and notes, but tantalizingly none of them can be tied to identified sitters. There is an appointment at half past eleven for a Mr. Orme, but this name does not occur in the sitter books, and on the last page Romney has recorded the name and address of a similarly elusive Mr. Watson. In a draft letter, ‘Mr Romney with his humble respect takes the liberty to acquaint Lady M … that he is now very well’ and ‘will approve a time for sitting’, but the full name is illegible. The reference to his sickness recalls a related note in the Liverpool sketchbook tentatively dateable to the first half of 1778, and it is perhaps noteworthy that before the first sitting of Lady Monson on 28 March that year there is the first two-day gap in Romney's punishing schedule of sittings for several months. But this may be stretching conjecture too far. Arguably the feel of the sketchbook is somewhat different from the Liverpool one.
Two further annotations, nevertheless, are suggestive. One is a description of various mediums for dead-colouring (a mixture of linseed oil boiled in water with red lead; poppy oil, water and white lead). This, copied out in a hand much less illegible than usual, has some of the hallmarks of the memoranda carefully inscribed in Romney's Italian notebooks and suggests an artist still interested in technical recipes. The other is a note to himself: ‘Remember to buy my own horse’. Although there might be any number of circumstances in which Romney could have made this note, it follows a series of studies for a portrait of a man with his horse, and tends to imply that Romney felt the lack of an equine model: surely more likely to be a feature of his first years in Cavendish Square than later ones.
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HUNTINGTON SKETCHBOOK NO. 4
Location: The Art Collections, The Huntington, San Marino, CA. Inventory No. 2015.15
Provenance: by descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (part of lot 36); bt. Noseda; …Alister Matthews, Poole 1960-1970; from whom bt. by Patricia Jaffé; Christie’s 7 July 2015 (94); bt. by the present owner.
Description: Graphite, ink and wash on cream paper; 13.5 x 19 cm; 132 pages numbered 1-132 in a later hand on the rectos; a few pages removed; fragmentary or indistinct watermark on many pages; sheepskin binding.
This is an unfamiliar sketchbook, apparently undiscussed in the Romney literature, but at 132 pages one of the densest and richest known. Unlike most Romney sketchbooks it has had scarcely any leaves removed (and those that have been, it may be surmised, were removed by Miss Romney’s executors as being too personal for comfort, rather than the victims of a cherry-picking dealer). The volume is also unusual in at least one of the ways it has been used: it divides, apparently by design, into five sections; three of graphite drawings alternating with two long sections of ink ones. Although Romney habitually covered numerous leaves of a sketchbook in one spell of drawing, it is too much to suppose that each of the five sections of this book correspond with one session or even one campaign of a few days; there is no correlation with the subjects studied. This curiously structured usage, taken with the volume’s unusual number of pages, suggests that Romney may have reserved it for special occasions, and that (as with certain other sketchbooks) it was in use over a period of years rather than weeks or months. This is borne out by the cover, where Romney can be seen to have scraped off the last digit of the date he originally inscribed – 1791 – and substituted another one, a 2 or 3. If 1791 is the date of the earliest drawings in the book, others are probably from two or even three years later.
In other respects the volume’s use is more characteristic: there is a scattergun quality in the succession of subjects, their clustering suggestive of Romney’s habitual darting from one to another and his elision of subjects as he found formal continuities between them. Typically, he did not work systematically from front to back but probably opened the book randomly and worked on the first vacant page he found, at different times treating both ends of the book as the front (and inscribing both outer covers). Again characteristically, he held the endpapers and the very first leaves in reserve for notes and memoranda: there are two draft letters to unknown recipients and typical lists of clothes to be taken on a journey. More unusual, indeed unique, is a list of Pictures to be Seen, yielding an unfamiliar glimpse of a Romney visiting the houses of London patrons rather than the recluse in his studio of writers’ cliché.
The words inscribed on the outer covers, Howard on one, Witchcraft on the other, acted as mnemonics for Romney when he wished to revisit the chief contents of the book. Howard refers to the subject that Romney probably studied more intensively for than any other in the 1790s: John Howard Visiting a Lazaretto; for this there are 26 pages of studies, chiefly of prisoners. Witchcraft probably refers to the two scenes from Macbeth, principally the Cavern Scene in which the Scottish king revisits the three witches making incantations and prophesies around their cauldron, for which there are fourteen pages of studies, together with eight further pages that are likely to depict specific motifs within the scene. These are balanced by approximately a dozen studies for the Banquet Scene, in which Macbeth writhes at the sight of the ghost of Banquo.
Interweaving with these studies are many smaller groups of subjects that defy precise identification, a handful of portrait and landscape studies and one further major group, arguably the most fascinating in the book, for the painting Newton Displaying the Prism of 1794. The finished work emerged as a much more prosaic and domesticated conception than that presaged by the twenty pages of dramatic and sublime studies here. These must be early ideas and they are unique, no other drawings surviving in any known sketchbook.
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KENDAL SKETCHBOOK
Location: Kendal Town Hall, Kendal, Cumbria
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie 24- 25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Otto Beit; Alfred Beit; from whom bought for £50 by the Trustees of the Farleton Tithes; by whom presented in 1955 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite, iron gall ink, black and red chalk on paper; 47 x 37 cm; 52 pages, some pages removed; both recto and verso are numbered, 104 numbered pages in all; watermark of J Whatman. The sketchbook was rebound by the Zaehnsdorf firm, founded by Budapest-native Joseph Zaehnsdorf in 1842, in green morocco gilt, now somewhat faded; the back and front are tooled to a geometric design inlaid with red and black morocco, with green watered-silk linings.. Books bound by Zaehnsdorf were well crafted and in high demand by prominent English book collectors; Joseph William Zaehnsdorf (1853-1930), who took over the firm after his father's death, published a detailed "how-to" book on bookbinding techniques (The Art of Bookbinding, London, Bell, 1890).
Page 1
At the top of the page to the left of center, in brown ink, are the names Hodgson (or Hodghson) Bradley, followed at the right, also in brown ink by an address, written twice: ‘No. 4 Inner Temple Lane up 3 pair of stairs.’ The Petworth House Archives (held by the West Sussex Record Office) have receipted bills dating between 1756-1760, which include some from ‘Bradley & Hodgson, carriers, Kendal’ (PHA /6647). Eighteenth-century English bullock drivers were known as ‘carriers’. Bradley and Hodgson might have been engaged by Romney in the early 1760s to transport items for him from Kendal to London or vice versa. In a letter of 30 March 1762, for example, he asked his wife to send paintings to him from Kendal ‘rolled up in a box, by the first waggon…’.
Written along the length of the page, also in brown ink, is another notation, most of which is difficult to decipher: ‘Mr Daves/Gloster Street [unreadable]/of the/Co[?] Joinson Collculla.’ These cryptic words are tantalizing. ‘Colculla’ (spelled with one less ‘l’) is the name of a character in Temora an Ossianic poem published by James Macpherson in 1763. Macpherson had earlier (1760) published Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and in 1762, his most celebrated Ossianic poem, Fingal, was published. Romney, in his quest for historical and literary subjects and with his instinct to strike out in new directions in his subject matter, did illustrate Macpherson’s Ossian poems later, yet drawings on Ossianic subjects do not appear to be present in the Kendal Sketchbook.
Four vivid black chalk studies occupy the middle of this page. The first is a profile of a man's face, from forehead to chin, with a distinctive Roman nose and full lips. Set on top of this, heightened with white chalk, is a nuanced study of a left hand, its third finger gracefully
curved. (For other hand drawings see 27 and 94). A third drawing, easy to overlook because it is so small, is a tiny sphere, carefully outlined and shaded, appearing to the right of the hand study. The source of light is carefully observed, casting a dark pool of shadow below and to the left of this object.
The fourth, most arresting, of these black chalk studies depicts the head of a balding, bearded man, that of the Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (c.279-206 BC). Marble heads of Chrysippus are in the Louvre (MR 529), the British Museum (Payne Knight collection), and the Vatican museums, among other collections. Romney's drawing takes slight liberties with standard images of the philosopher in that his Chrysippus has a beard that coils inwards towards the center. Classical marbles, reproduced in plaster of Paris, were readily available in the 18th century in shops like that on the Strand owned by John Flaxman’s father. William Hayley notes that Romney frequented the shop of John Flaxman’s father ‘to purchase figures in plaster’ (a list of six casts and what the artist paid for them is preserved in Barrow No. 1). Nevertheless, it is more likely that the Chrysippus head and the other chalk drawings on this page were studied from casts in the Duke of Richmond’s gallery of casts. The similarity of Romney's head to one appearing in a self-portrait by John Hamilton Mortimer suggests that both artists had access to the same casts in the Duke of Richmond’s gallery. Clearly, Romney had made this drawing by 1764 at the latest as a head nearly identical to the one studied here (and that in 104) appears in Romney's painting of Elizabeth, Lady Blunt, which dates to the latter half of 1764. Two casts of the same head also appear in A Conversation, exhibited in 1766.
The other chalk drawings on the page could also have been made in the Duke of Richmond's gallery, which had casts of the hands of Charity and Fortitude from Bernini's monument to Alexander VII and hands from Pierre Le Gros’s silver and copper statue of St. Ignatius. This carefully shaded hand study, with highlights of white chalk, would have aided Romney in painting hands in his portraits. For information on the cast gallery see John Kenworthy-Browne, ‘The Duke of Richmond's Gallery in Whitehall’ British Art Journal X/1, 2009.
At the bottom of the page, upside-down is a drawing in brown ink of two reclining figures. To the left of the Chrysippus head, in landscape orientation, is a faint graphite drawing of a figure kneeling over a supine figure with a full head of hair and beard. Also in graphite, above the hand study are additional notations including the numbers: ‘1/2, 11, 1= 77 and 1-’.
The mixture of media and techniques on this page, plus the inclusion of notations and aides memoire provide a meaningful introduction to Romney's manner as a draftsman. His sketchbooks are often an assemblage of unrelated material, suggesting an unsystematic approach. As an idea presented itself, the artist jotted it down, crowding images onto a page in random orientation, sometimes including written notations as well.
Page 2
A male figure in a two-wheeled chariot races on an upward diagonal behind speeding horses. At lower left is an indistinct figure, which could be a participant in the scene, or perhaps, more likely, an alternate pose for the figure in the chariot. Scribbled lines behind the chariot could suggest landscape elements. It is conceivable the subject may be Romney's recollection of the Fountain of Apollo at Versailles, a dramatic sculptural assemblage by Jean-Baptiste Tuby, dating from 1668-1671. Thomas Greene, who travelled to Paris with Romney in 1764, noted that the two ‘walked about in the gardens [of Versailles] admiring the fine marble statues…’. Tuby's complex sculpture of gilded bronze is sure to have made an impact on Romney as he and Greene wandered through the gardens. Baroque paintings which included chariots could also have influenced him.
Page 3
At bottom left on the page, oriented in landscape mode, is a thumbnail half-length portrait study of a woman. Such a mixing of small, thumbnail portrait studies with other types of drawings is characteristic of this sketchbook. This is the first of such drawings to appear. The composition, marked off by lines, completely fills the demarcated area. Within a landscape setting, the figure stands beside a fountain topped by sculpture adorned with infant nudes. This is a study for the portrait Mrs Judith Clive, c.1764. (See similar studies in 30 and at the bottom of 12.)
At the right side of the page, two additional rectangles are delineated, but the compositions within are unreadable. Eight additional faint sketches appear on the page. Three show figures from the back, two seated, one standing. One drawing at mid-page depicts the upper body of a woman in contemporary dress, left arm raised. To the left of this figure, sideways, is an almost unintelligible frontal crouching figure, and to its right are two very faint studies of heads. At the upper left of the page is a bare-legged figure shown di sotto in su with draperies swirling above its waist. (See note on 5.)
Page 4
Six drawings, two of them extremely faint, depict a winged, flying figure. (The wings appear most clearly on the figure lowest on the page). In the two most readable drawings, the right leg is shown in alternate poses. (See also 3 and 5.)
Page 5
On this page we see Romney’s mind moving on parallel tracks, combining portrait studies with subject ideas. The fairly detailed composition drawing occupying the upper part of this sheet is a fully realized presentation of a subject related to figure studies in 3 and 4. In this apotheosis scene, we see a di sotto in su image of a bearded man with flowing hair, wafted heavenward by a winged angel and four cherubs, one with visible wings. The man wears flowing robes, which leave his legs bare from the knee down. Curiously, the face of the flying figure, which bears the load of the man's body, has been scratched out with repeated lines.
What is surprising is that Romney could have been drawn to such a subject in the first place. It is true that the Italian decorative painters Cipriani and Zucchi were by now both in England, and cycles of paintings for lunettes and ceilings were being painted in London and at country seats. However, Romney could hardly have expected to be commissioned for such works. What is impressive is that he could be inspired by such a wide variety of poses in the first place and so eclectic in the images he chose to set down in his sketchbooks. It is possible he was simply intrigued by the unusual poses afforded by a vantage point ‘from below upwards’ and wanted to expand his abilities to represent the human figure in as wide a variety of poses as possible. That Romney took note of such sky-borne stagings is corroborated by his reference to The Assumption of the Virgin by Corregio [sic], or Parmigiano [sic], which he saw in Genoa en route to Rome in 1773. As he wrote in his travel journal, ‘The figure of the virgin is suspended in the clouds in a very becoming posture … She is surrounded by a group of angels and children’.
The apotheosis scene here was clearly influenced by various ceiling paintings or large canvases Romney could have seen in London and Paris. His composition appears to be a free adaptation combining two sources: Domenichino's St. Paul Being Borne Aloft and Le Sueur’s St Bruno is Carried Up to Heaven. Romney could have seen both these works while visiting Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764. The Domenichino painting had been in the French Royal collections
since before 1695, and Le Sueur’s painting was in the Carthusian monastery in Paris, which, as we know from Thomas Greene's account, Romney visited twice. These connections raise the possibility that Romney took this sketchbook with him to Paris in August of 1764. Certain additional drawings in the sketchbook lend support to that speculation, among them 45, 64 and 78. It is possible Romney was inspired by apotheosis paintings he saw in Paris to contemplate a painting on the subject of the apotheosis of Shakespeare.
On the lower half of the page, two studies for a group portrait are marked out within rectangles. These are the first drawings in the sketchbook for The Warren Family, a commission Romney received during his 1767 visit to Lancaster. The painting was completed by spring of 1769, and was included in the exhibition of the Free Society of Artists that opened on May 1 of that year. The Kendal sketchbook has at least fifteen studies for this painting on six different pages, or possibly more, depending upon how one interprets several very faint drawings. In the completed portrait, Sir George Warren stands to the left, his right arm extended, gesturing towards the Roman Colosseum in the background; Lady Warren sits in the center, while the child, Elizabeth, stands at the right holding a bird. The two drawings on this page present a composition different from that of the painting and different from one another. Both drawings show the father standing at the right and the mother seated. The position of the child is the major difference between the drawings: In the one to the left, the child is in the center; in the other drawing she stands to the left of her mother. Romney worked on The Warren Family at widely separated points in the sketchbook (See 7, 18, 20, 82, and 96), using the drawings to try out various compositional arrangements.
Page 6
Marked out in landscape orientation at the center of the page is a subject that will capture Romney's attention in at least thirteen composition drawings and figural studies in this sketchbook. The basic composition shows two males urging a third towards a waiting boat, manned by additional figures. The reluctant male looks back toward a female, nude above the waist, lying face up on the ground in front of dark rocks or a cavern. In this particular drawing an additional head appears in the central group, but this is likely an alternate pose for the figure in the middle. (A faint additional study of figures from the composition appears just to the right.)
The subject may be identified as Rinaldo abandoning Armida, an episode from Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata. The episode occurs in Canto XVI, lines 425-28 and 437-44 wherein Carlo and Ubaldo persuade Rinaldo to leave Armida and rejoin the crusaders' battles:
She could no more; as these last words she spoke,
Scarce from her lips the sounds imperfect broke.
She faints! She sinks! all breathless pale she lies
In chilly sweats, and shuts her languid eyes...
'Twixt life and death her struggling senses lost?
Compassion pleads, and courtesy detains;
But dire necessity his flight constrains.
He parts:--and now a friendly breeze prevails,
(The pilot's tresses waving in the gales)
The golden sail o'er surging ocean speeds,
And from the sight the flying shore recedes.
(Trans. Hoole, 1763)
Tasso's epic poem was enjoying a revival in popularity in England during this period. Philip Doyne's translation of the poem, The Delivery of Jerusalem, was published in 1 761, and John Hoole published another translation, Jerusalem Delivered, in 1763. Romney was not alone in turning to Tasso's epic poem for inspiration. For example, Benjamin West produced a painting based on the poem in the l760s, and Angelica Kauffmann painted at least three scenes based on the poem, exhibiting them at the Royal Academy in the l770s. Romney's composition is close in concept to a 1742/1745 painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (See other drawings on this subject in 20, 23, 24, 28, 34, 75, 80, 81, and 93). The identification of this drawing as a scene from Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata is further strengthened by the fact that Romney also dealt with another episode from this poem, Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden, in an equally large number of sketches in the sketchbook (See 22.) At the bottom of the page are two sketches of a seated woman.
Page 7At top right is a study for The Warren Family. Here, in contrast to drawings in 5, Lady Warren stands while her husband sits. The child stands between them. Curved lines in the background may suggest the Colosseum in Rome, which features in the finished painting. This drawing overlaps a faint image of a well-muscled figure, right arm raised.
Two drawings to the left of the page may be early ideas for Romney's portrait of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. This is suggested by the fact that the seated woman rests her arm upon an urn, a symbol of mortality. In one of the drawings, two small figures crouch at this figure's feet. Conversely, these could be part of a sculptural relief on the support for the urn. The present drawing is the first in the sketchbook to show a seated female in a double portrait touching an urn. The others in the group are in 21, 43, 45, and 51. In the upper drawing, a second woman, right arm raised, stands behind the seated figure, while in the lower drawing this figure holds a staff (perhaps a shepherd's crook) in her upraised arm as she bends towards the seated woman. (For related drawings showing the second figure holding a staff see 43, 47, 51, and 52.) As the staff has no direct connection with the theme of mortality, the reason for its inclusion is unclear. Also likely to be portrait studies are six slight sketches depicting a seated woman with two, sometimes three, children. (See two similar, more detailed, depictions of this group in 36.)
Page 8The most striking image on this page is a densely shaded study of a kneeling woman with arms outspread. The dramatic lighting striking the woman from above infuses the scene with a spiritual quality, reinforced by the woman's kneeling pose and rapt expression. The woman is either veiled or has long, flowing hair. In 1765, Romney exhibited A lady’s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters. This drawing may be related to that painting. See 10 and 30 for additional studies of this figure. These drawings appear to have been directly influenced by Charles Le Brun's The Repentant Magdalen, which Romney saw in the Carmelite church in Paris in 1764 and which was singled out in Thomas Greene's journal as a work which excited their attention.
On the lower half of the page, five nearly identical drawings depict a standing woman facing the viewer, presumably portrait studies. Another drawing shows a casually seated man looking upwards at a woman in an apron and mob cap (or bonnet), whose right arm is raised. A line (a broom?) slants downward. A genre scene rather than a portrait is suggested. Above the middle of the page is a slight sketch of the same seated man, here reversed. At the top of the page, left, is another drawing of a standing woman and a seated male, but here the woman wears a full-sleeved gown and no cap. At mid-page, right, is a faintly rendered scene with several figures that is difficult to interpret.
Page 9At the bottom of the page, left, is the same pair seen at top left in 8, a stylishly-clad woman with modish hairdo standing before a seated male. Here the drawing is in brown ink, crossed through with lines.
In the center at the bottom of the page is a carefully shaded head of a female wearing a headband and peaked cap pushed back on her head. The fastidious shading and careful observation of this face present a striking contrast to all the other drawings on the page. The artist's meticulous concentration has produced a tiny, realistic gem, a testament to his powers of observation. This facial type was echoed later in one of the women in the artist's Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, of c. 1770.
At mid-page, upside down, are two drawings, enclosed within lines, depicting a seated female, both legs bent sharply at the knee and right arm extended along a support. A kneeling infant extends its head towards her bared breast. Roundish forms in one of the drawings may imply additional figures. The bared breast and the infant suggest a Charity or a Madonna Lactans subject, although the curiously animated pose of the woman and the infant's awkward reach towards the breast subvert such interpretations. A third, faint sketch of the woman and infant appears below these drawings.
At the top of the page, also upside down, is a frontal standing female in contrapposto. Three figures viewed from behind depart at left. This drawing is related to drawings in 12.
Page 10The kneeling woman seen in 8, possibly a study for A lady s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters, appears again here in four studies (see also 30). Oddly, the most detailed of these, within a rectangle and densely shaded, cuts the women's extended left leg off at the knee. One of the drawings reflects the pose of the figure in 8, with the arms flung wide; the other drawings vary the pose, with one or both of the woman's arms bent at the elbow. A standing woman at bottom right may be related to these drawings though it also bears similarities to figures on the following page (11). Two additional faint sketches of standing figures complete the images on this page.
Page 11All the drawings on this page are upside down. In four particularly engaging drawings, a standing woman varies her pose in an almost cinematic manner. Gracefully managed draperies enhance the figure's allure. The artist's precise observation suggests the finesse of Watteau. With deft economy, Romney captures the woman's tiny feet with their mincing gait and renders hand gestures with the utmost delicacy. Three drawings marked off within rectangles depict two standing and one seated woman. These drawings, more evidently than the others on the page, are intended as portrait studies. A tiny face at mid-page, left, is related to the drawings of standing women above and below it. Additional vague marks are difficult to decipher.
Page 12A composition at mid-page right is echoed by figure studies above it. (All are upside down.) It may be an idea for a subject picture rather than a portrait. Supporting this view is the fact that a figure at the left is half cut off and shown from the back. In addition, the principal figure in the composition is shown in vigorous contrapposto rather than in the repose more typical of portraits. Two very similar drawings in landscape orientation are half-length studies of a woman in a landscape. The pose of this figure is similar to that of two of the full-length figures on the previous page (11).
A drawing upside down at the bottom of the page provides an interesting demonstration of Romney’s graphic method. Lightly delineating the female figure in graphite, the artist next starts adding dense shading, beginning at the right (when the drawing is viewed right side up). This is an unusual piecemeal method to use in applying chiaroscuro. The woman’s pose and the widecollared cloak she wears are suggestive of Romney’s Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle, c.1764. A very faint sketch of a woman's head and torso at mid-page is probably unrelated to other drawings on the page.
Page 13All the drawings on the page are upside down. At the bottom, eight standing female figures rush through space, displaying a variety of poses and gestures. With split second timing, the artist captures the moving pageant of life going on about him with the same verve as in 11. One of the figures wears a wide-collared cloak like the figure in a portrait study at the bottom of 12; possibly both drawings are related to the portrait of Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle (c. 1764).
Six drawings depict male figures. In two of these the man is seated. In four others, he stands. The poses reflect common types Romney had by this time adopted in his portraiture. Of great interest here is the transformation that the standing male figure undergoes. Twice shown in contemporary dress (coat, waistcoat, and breeches), the figure appears to be studied for a portrait. Abruptly, the staging changes: The striding figure now wears Roman armor and a plumed hat or helmet and brandishes a dagger. While the man's right arm now makes a different gesture, his legs are identical. (See 15 for a discussion of the possible subject of this drawing.) Trapped by ‘this cursed portrait painting’ in order to earn his livelihood, Romney was always seeking to excel, instead, in the loftier art of history painting. That ambivalence finds direct expression on this page, as an eighteenth-century male becomes transformed into an actor in a historical drama.
The emotionally-charged figure standing by herself upside down at top left prefigures, in her active, expressive pose, various identities Emma Hart would assume as Romney's model, beginning in the 1780s.
Page 14Two drawings on this page relate to Romney's important early masterpiece of 1763, The Death of General Wolfe (now lost). A figure lying on the ground, supported by a second figure, shows, in reverse, the same figure that appears in two drawings in 15. With careful modeling, the artist conveys Wolfe's powerful musculature. The sharply bent head suggests the figure is dying. In a second carefully modeled drawing below, two figures support the slumping body of the mortally wounded general. It is curious that these drawings appear next to three studies, in brown ink, of the figure of Melancholy, a painting the artist exhibited in 1770. Employing different media and placed upside down in relation to the Wolfe drawings, the drawings of Melancholy must have been opportunistically inserted at a later date to fill an empty spot in the sketchbook. (One of the drawings is actually superimposed on a slight graphite sketch beneath.) The calligraphic fluency and ease of their style sharply contrast with the sober, carefully shaded forms of the Wolfe drawings. Likewise, Melancholy's elongated figure, formed of flowing S-shaped curves and wearing generalized rather than contemporary clothing, forms an instructive contrast with the more directly observed graphite figures of the young women in 13. There are other drawings for Melancholy in Barrow sketchbook No. 1 and Truro sketchbook No. 1, and many have appeared on the open market.
The graphite sketches of the Wolfe composition here and in 15 are the only preliminary drawings thus far identified although two oil sketches (Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal and New Brunswick Museum, Canada) have been associated with the Wolfe painting. Two faint sketches of a seated male, in one case holding a tablet, appear upside down at bottom right.
Page 15Two drawings related to The Death of General Wolfe (1763) appear at the bottom of this sheet. These conform to the contemporary description of the painting cited by Jennifer C. Watson (Jennifer C. Watson: George Romney in Canada (1985) p. 21): ‘The Genl. Is represented leaning against & supported (by) two Officers who Express great Concern, the Blood appears trickling from the Wound in his Wrist & from that in his Breast agt. which one of the Officers holds his Hand a third Officer is coming to the Genl. (to) inform him the french give way & appears greatly struck with Surprize.’ In the lightly sketched drawing at the left, the ‘third Officer’ mentioned in this description enters the scene. The second drawing, filled in with shading, includes a battle flag, balanced by a stubby tree to the right. Here, the modeling of the figure of Wolfe is more cursory than in 14. Three sketches, upside down, of a supine figure are also probably connected to the Wolfe composition.
Another figural grouping above the Wolfe studies depicts a collapsing woman supported by two other figures; a third figure rushes away at the right. This figural grouping recalls the group of three figures in 14, yet is definitely not related to The Death of General Wolfe. For Romney, a particular pose could often trigger an idea for an entirely different subject, as evidenced here. A faint sketch at top right is another study of this collapsing woman.
At top left is the same dagger-wielding warrior clad in a plumed helmet and Roman armor first seen in 13. Here, the armband attached to the man's faintly-indicated shield is evident. A pool of shadow to the right gives the figure spatial context. It is possible this may represent Lucius Junius Brutus, legendary founder of the Roman Republic. After Lucretia's rape by Tarquin and her subsequent suicide, Lucretia's body was taken to the Roman forum, where Brutus raised his dagger and swore an oath to drive the Tarquinii from Rome. For other drawings which may be associated with the Lucretia story see 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 53, and 78.
Page 16At the bottom of the page is a fully worked up, densely shaded composition drawing based on a version of Titian's Venus and Adonis. Titian's concept of the myth was accessible during the 18th Century through various autograph versions, workshop products, copies, and engravings. (Over thirty such versions survive today.) The painted version Romney would have seen was one that was in the Orleans collection at the Palais Royal when he and Thomas Greene visited Paris in 1764. Yet, in that version, Adonis wears a hunter's cap. Further, since Romney shows the original composition in reverse, he must have been working from an engraving. Even here, however, he takes liberties in copying Titian's composition. Venus's left leg is hanging down rather than splayed out, and Adonis is depicted almost directly above Venus rather than to the side. Finally, instead of the sleeping Eros in the background, there are two putti toying with arrows. Given Romney's susceptibility to the charms of female beauty and his desire to improve his ability to render the female nude, Titian's painting was a logical subject for him to study. Evidence of Romney's interest in Titian and Venetian art in general is suggested by his notation in RA Sketchbook No. 2: ‘Aretin a Dialogue on Painting.’ This must refer to Lodovico Dolce' s l'Aretino, which concludes with a paean to Titian). For another drawing featuring Venus and Adonis see l00.
At mid-page, upside down, is a seated half-draped figure with a putto at its knees. The upraised left arm echoes that of Adonis above. However, this cannot be a representation of Adonis. Instead, it mirrors similar drawings later in the sketchbook. (See note on 19 and also 38 and 79). Two scribbly sketches of a striding female figure appear upside down at the top of the page. This figure closely resembles one in two drawings in 12.
Page 17Three studies of a nude woman reaching out to grasp a standing male about the waist are clearly derived from Romney’s study of the print of Titian’s Venus and Adonis (see 16). Here Venus has become a more athletic figure in Romney's powerful reworking of the poses. The figure twists with a dynamic torsion expressive of energy and emotion, different from the harmonious plenitude conveyed by Titian’s Venus, as mirrored in Romney's copy. Romney has internalized the lessons learned from Titian to express himself in an idiom all his own. Below the middle of the page is a faint sketch of extended legs and an outstretched body, presumably related to the drawings above.
At the bottom of the page is a lightly sketched group of dancers. Romney often sketched dancing figures, which are found in many of his works. If this sketch was purpose-driven, it could be that it expresses an idea for dancers in the bacchanalian relief seen in the background of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. See additional drawings of dancers in 40, 41, 44, 72, and 76. (The dancers here are somewhat similar to those in 40.)
Page 18Three studies for The Warren Family appear upside down on this page. (See note in 5.) In two of the drawings, the father sits at the left, the child is in the center, and the stepmother stands at the right. The third drawing changes this arrangement. There, the father stands at the left, the mother sits in the center, and the child stands at the right. It is this arrangement (seen also in 82 and 96) that was adopted in the completed painting. At this point, however, Romney is still experimenting with the arrangement of the figures.
There are scribbled lines at the left side of the page. A slight sketch of a dancing figure and a shaded object (a foreshortened book?) appear at bottom right. The dancer echoes the pose of two similar figures in 39.
Page 19An intriguing composition appears in landscape orientation at the bottom right of this sheet. Viewed upright, it shows a woman, arm extended, staring down at a man lying face up in her lap. His legs are bent over the side of what could be a bier. A robed figure shines a lantern upon the couple. Beyond the dark interior, shown in perspective, is a backdrop of dark clouds obscuring the moon in a night sky. One immediately thinks of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene 3, when Juliet recovers from her drugged, death-like sleep to find her lover dead from poison. Romney did not produce a painting on this subject in the 1760s, nor did he explore it as a topic in the mid-1780s, after the launching of the Boydell Shakespeare Galle ry. Yet this powerful drawing suggests he could have created an impressive work based on Romeo and Juliet in the Tomb had he pursued this composition further. A second, very slight, rendering of the female with the body across her lap is at the right of the fully worked-up composition.
The elongated vertical format of Romney's tomb scene suggests a bookplate illustration. Nicholas Rowe's 1709 edition of Romeo and Juliet had as its frontispiece an engraving of the tomb scene by Elisha Kirkall after Francois Boitard. Later illustrations, which incorporated Friar Laurence holding a lantern, include those by Gerard Vander Gucht after Hubert Gravelot (1740) and by Anthony Walker (1754). While Romney may have been familiar with one or another of these prints, his own design is superior to them in its concentrated focus and simplicity. The earlier illustrations, instead, are overwhelmed with subsidiary details. The murky lighting effects and the fact that the scene takes place in a stage-like setting against a flat backdrop lead one to also consider whether current theatrical performance influenced Romney. However, Romeo and Juliet, as currently performed, had been rewritten by David Garrick to have Juliet wake up before Romeo dies, and the two have a few final moments together. In 1753, Benjamin Wilson had painted Garrick as Romeo, standing with right arm raised in amazement as Juliet awakens and rises from her bier. This treatment is very different from Romney’s, which is closer to the text as Shakespeare wrote it in that Romeo is already dead in Juliet’s lap. Below the center of the page to the left are three studies of a figure in a similar pose to that of a seated figure in 16. Here, the figure’s face is frontal and clearly female. The most detailed of these three drawings includes the putto seen also in 16, touching the female figure's right hand. Though not exact copies, these drawings evoke comparison with Terpsichore, the muse of dance, by the seventeenth-century French painter Eustache Le Sueur for the Chamber of the Muses in the Hotel Lambert between 1652-55 (now in the Louvre). A companion painting in this suite of pictures, Urania, the muse of astronomy, is shown in a roughly similar pose. Romney was particularly responsive to the art of Le Sueur. Though he did not favor the work of contemporary French painters, ‘those of the time of Louis the fourteenth are very great, and every church and palace is filled with them’, he wrote in a letter to his brother Peter. As John Romney observes, ‘Among the French painters, the works of Le Sueur seemed to coincide the most with his own ideas’. Thomas Greene’s journal of his trip to Paris with Romney in 1764 mentions Le Sueur three times, so we know this painter received special consideration. Le Sueur’s pretty feminine types, with their sweetness and harmonious coloring, were bound to appeal to Romney. A total of seven drawings of this figure appear in the Kendal Sketchbook (see 17, 19, 38, 79). Upside-down to the other images on the sheet are a male in contemporary dress, perhaps a portrait study, and a standing female reaching towards an object held by a putto.
Page 20On this page, as on many others in the sketchbook, Romney mixes portrait studies with subject compositions. The five portrait studies, ranging from a slight scribble to an amply shaded study contained within rectangular borders, all show a man, a woman, and female child. They are, without doubt, trial groupings for the figures in The Warren Family (see also 5, 7, 18, 82, and 96). The drawing at bottom left is set down on top of the figure of Armida, a figure at the right in a composition drawing for Rinaldo abandoning Armida, first seen in 6. (This composition should be viewed in landscape orientation.) The central group of figures in this composition, Rinaldo and his two companions, appear to the left of Armida, and the boat is faintly indicated further to the left. Another drawing of Rinaldo and one of his companions appears upside down at top center on the page.
Page 21The largest drawing on this sheet depicts a seated woman leaning backwards, grasping a nude male about the buttocks. This may be, as in 17, another instance of Romney's reworking a pose ultimately derived from Titian's Venus and Adonis (see 16), demonstrating his ability to redirect a particular pose towards a different subject. Here the figures are reversed from those in the artist's study after Titian. In addition, the female is shown from the front, the male from the back. Though the lower part of the woman’s body, with one leg studied in alternate poses, appears unclothed, a waistband and sleeve suggest she is not. The male is nude. At top left, upside down, is a sensitively rendered drawing of a seated female nude, arms upraised and legs crossed at the ankle. A second, scarcely readable sketch, which may also depict this figure, is at bottom right.
Just above the center of the page is a sketch for the composition seen in 19, Romeo and Juliet in the Tomb, though here the woman appears to the left rather than in the center. The extravagant bent-knee pose of Romeo suggests a signature pose of Garrick's, as reflected in Hogarth’s and Hayman’s depictions of the actor. However, Garrick's staging of Romeo and Juliet is not consistent with Romney’s depiction of the tomb scene since the actor rewrote the ending to have Juliet wake up before Romeo's suicide and the two share a few moments before they die. That is clearly not the case here since Romeo's lifeless body is draped over the newly awakened Juliet's lap.
Beneath this drawing, to the right, is a slight sketch of a standing adult with a child. This could possibly be another study for The Warren Family (see note on 5). The drawing upside down at top right depicts the same woman seen resting her hand atop an urn in 7. On this page, the second woman, rather than holding a staff, as in 7, sits on a higher level behind the first figure. A landscape background is suggested in the densely shaded background. A second study of these two women, also upside down, appears at the middle of the page. For other similar drawings see 43, 45, and 51.
Page 22At bottom right are three studies of a seated man gazing at a woman who looks at her own image in a mirror. The subject can be identified as Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden, from Tasso's, Gerusalemme Liberata. Tasso's epic poem, first published in 1581, is a fanciful tale about the First Crusade, which centers on the conflict between love and duty. Rinaldo, a Christian prince aiding the Saracens in defending Jerusalem, seeks out the sorceress Armida to convince her to reverse the spell she has put on several of his companions, which has turned them into monsters. In Armida's enchanted garden, the two fall in love:
Dependent from his side (unusual sight!)
Appear'd a polish'd mirror, beamy bright:
This in his hand th' enamour'd champion rais'd;
On this, with smiles, the fair Armida gaz'd.
She in the glass her form reflected ‘spies:
And he consults the mirror of her eyes.
(Canto XVI, 145-150; trans. Hoole, 1763)
Titian was clearly of help to Romney in depicting Armida’s body, as one can see in comparing these drawings to the artist's copy of Venus and Adonis (see 16). A similar nude has been employed in a drawing of The Toilet of Venus upside down at the top of this page. The image of Venus looking in a mirror held by her maidservant has been awkwardly combined with two figures rummaging through a cassone at the right. These figures are reminiscent of figures in the right background of another of Titian's paintings, Venus of Urbino, which Romney could have known through an engraving. In this manner did Romney perfect his method, studying the works of the Old Masters and then redeploying motifs in subjects of his own. Romney may have been drawn to the theme of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's enchanted Garden through his familiarity with Domenichino's painting on the subject, a work acquired by Louis XIV in 1685 and in the French Royal Collections when Romney visited Paris in 1764. Romney also studied the subject in Royal Academy Sketchbook No. 2.
A drawing in the center of the page depicts a female nude standing on rocks and leaning against a post. This vaguely resembles Andromeda, as seen in many drawings later in the sketchbook. (See 50, 51, and 53-63.) A figure to the right may represent Andromeda in reverse. There are additional scribbles on the page, one of which suggests a profile.
Page 23All drawings here are in landscape orientation, which is seldom the case in this sketchbook, in which it occurs only 23 times. On this page, Romney deals with both of the subjects that interested him from Gerusalemme Liberata, Tasso's epic poem. Two drawings depict Rinaldo abandoning Armina and two others depict Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. (For additional information on these subjects, see 6 and 22.)
Two additional drawings appear here which are unrelated to the Rinaldo and Armida story. The one at the bottom of the page depicts a woman and a foreshortened, reclining infant. The other, depicting two striding females, is of more interest. It is very likely a study for Romney's portrait of Two Sisters, half-length, which he exhibited in 1767 at the Free Society of Artists, and which is now untraced. In 1770, Robert Dunkarton exhibited at the Society of Artists the proof of a mezzotint after Romney, undoubtedly the portrait in question, under the title Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. This particular drawing, though full length, evokes the figures in the Dunkarton print. The Kendal Sketchbook has a large number of drawings of two striding females analogous to these, which are presumably related to this painting. These occur on the following pages: 39, 40, 43, 52, 63, 73, 75, 77, 88, 91, 100, 102, and (possibly) 103. The example on page 43 has one of the figures pointing towards a sculpted pedestal topped by an urn, most likely a grave marker, which would obviously underscore the theme of mortality. Most of the drawings in the series depict the figures at full-length, rather than half-length as in the completed painting.
Page 24The drawings on this page are upside down. The densely shaded thumbnail drawing can be tied with confidence to a completed portrait, Elizabeth, Lady Blunt, c. 1764. In the painting, the setting is out of doors, with a landscape opening in the distance. Here, the setting is an interior. Drapery and an elaborate pull cord frame the figure. The sitter’s right elbow rests atop a classical bust, as it does in the completed painting. Her pose closely approximates to that of the painting, although here the index finger of her left hand is not pointed downward, and her costume lacks the sash, which features prominently in the painting. Despite the small size of this drawing, the artist has nonetheless managed to suggest Lady Blunt's hairstyle and individual features. The variegated shading is closely attended to here, giving the effect of light streaming in through a window to the left, illuminating the upper part of the sitter's body; however, the handling of light striking the plinth seems arbitrary. This drawing differs strongly from the more ephemeral additional sketches on the page. (For another possible study for Lady Blunt see 100).
A faint sketch of a standing woman at top right, while it echoes to an extent Lady Blunt’s pose, forms a transition between the portrait of Lady Blunt and a subject composition appearing in 25, in which a similar figure appears. A second drawing of a standing female, in a different pose, is at bottom right. Finally, the slight sketch above the Blunt study might be related to Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6) though it is faint and difficult to read.
Page 25Drawings are upside down on this page. A new composition appears here. A standing female points her right arm towards a seated male. Two additional figures appear at the right. Three additional studies of the woman appear above. One of these, which is very faint, was drawn over by the artist as he made the composition study. The subject is presumably The Accusation of Susannah, a subject Romney also dealt with in a number of drawings in Courtauld Sketchbook No. 1. A seated man appears to the left in one of the Courtauld drawings though not in an identical pose to that here. In the Courtauld drawing, the emphatic curve and loose, approximating line used to depict Susannah contrasts with the more factual, darkly shaded method used here. In part, this is a product of the different media used: ink versus graphite. However, at the end of the 1760's Romney was developing a looser, freer style of drawing than had prevailed previously in his work. (See 24, 31, 92, and 99 for related drawings.)
Page 26This page contains only scribbles.
Page 27This entire page is given over to copies Romney made from various sources, remarkable in their range and variety. The blank eyes, straight nose and full lips of the face at top left earmark it as a copy of a classical head. Harshly illuminated from the lower right, the head is carefully presented with strong chiaroscuro.
Strong chiaroscuro effects were to become a hallmark of Romney’s late work. His son John comments on his propensity to use different sources of strong light in his dark studio to light the classical casts he acquired late in life. (Such methods were often employed in cast galleries to sharpen definition.) This head may well have been copied from a cast in the Duke of Richmond's sculpture gallery, perhaps from one of the ‘busts from unknown source’, among these a Juno, most likely a cast of the so-called Ludovisi Juno, in fact a representation of Antonia Minor, niece of Augustus. Alternatively, Romney could possibly have been working from a cast at the St. Martin's Lane Academy, which also had a few classical casts (see Ilaria Bignamini and Martin Postle, The Artist's Model: Its Role in British Art from Lely to Etty, exhibition catalogue, 1991 University Art Gallery, Nottingham, The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1991, cat. 4.)
The portrait roughly inscribed within an oval conveys the manner and staging of an Old Master. However, fitting this particular drawing into the history of portraiture is difficult: the clean shaven youth with drapery flung over his shoulder and possibly wearing a mazzocchio-type headdress suggests the Renaissance, yet the image does not fit easily into a Renaissance milieu as its oval format was rare in the Renaissance, when the tondo, i.e. round, shape was preferred. (Dosso Dossi did paint a number of oval portraits in Ferrara in the early 16th century, but this is anomalous). Full size oval portraits were not unknown in the 17th century and the oval became increasingly used for portrait miniatures though Romney seems unlikely to have been copying from a miniature. The figure's right hand rests on his upper breast. Although two studies of hands are found on this page, they do not mirror the hand in the portrait drawing. In their graceful expressiveness, the hands are reminiscent of the hand study in 1. Conceivably life studies, they could also have been copied from prints or even casts. The landscape study, with its looming foreground rocks, confusing middle ground features, distant mountain, and dark sky with strange cloud forms, does not suggest an actual landscape. Perhaps adapted from a print, it is a strange drawing indeed.
Page 28Four drawings on this page depict a man supporting a slumping woman. (In two of these she appears to be offering some resistance.) Three of the drawings suggest that the man wears a helmet, as will be made explicit in other drawings of this pair later in the sketchbook. Related drawings include 32, 38, 39, 40, 53, and 78. The subject is probably The Rape of Lucretia. Lucretia, the legendary Roman matron who committed suicide after her rape by Tarquin, son of the King of Rome, was the epitome of ‘Pudicitia’, i.e. modesty and sexual virtue. She provided a proper model for artists in an age in which chastity and fidelity were much prized as feminine virtues ensuring that only rightful heirs would inherit property in a landed economy. Richardson's novel Clarissa (1748) offered a Lucretia-like model in a young woman who, though she does not directly commit suicide after her rape by the villain Lovelace, pines away until she dies of guilt and remorse. Correspondingly, in the visual arts, norms of 18th-century portraiture provided ways of demonstrating feminine virtue and the position of women within a family, just as subject pictures could put forward models like Lucretia.
We know Romney was interested in the Lucretia theme from notations in his hand in Yale Sketchbook No. 7, in which he lists various ideas for subject pictures, among them ‘Lucrecia’. That sketchbook dates from the artist's stay in Italy, 1773-5, but it is clear that he had already dealt with the subject earlier, as is shown here. There are numerous related drawings in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 and Barrow Sketchbook No. 1. There is also one drawing on the subject in Louvre Sketchbook No. 2 (45). A very faint sketch between two of the Lucretia drawings may also depict this subject or, possibly, figures from the composition of Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6). Two additional drawings depict a seated woman. In the more detailed of these she wears a mob cap. A tiny sketch of a face appears above this figure’s head.
Page 29At top right is a landscape view of a three-arched bridge spanning a river. Through one of the arches one sees cattle and a two-mast boat with sails down. A building appears in the middle distance and hills rise up beyond. Faintly visible angled shapes in the foreground, left, suggest that the scene is observed from a height. Romney would have been able to observe such a view as this during his return visits to the north in 1765 or 1767. There are several three-arched stone bridges in Cumbria that could have provided a vista similar to this. Though added to or rebuilt since Romney's time, these include the Devil's bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale and the Nether and Miller bridges in Kendal. (Built in stone in 1743, the Miller Bridge was rebuilt in 1818.) Whether a craft the size of the one in the drawing could have navigated the local rivers, though, is questionable. Perhaps the boat is shown out of scale; otherwise, Romney could have been using a print as his source. However, since the scene appears on the same page as studies for a portrait painted during the artist's 1767 trip to the north, it does suggest that it might reflect an actual site. Romney's son John wrote of his father’s deep responsiveness to the beauty of his native Cumbria, with its ‘winding vales, and swelling eminences’. For information on Kendal in Romney's time, see John Satchell, ‘Romney's Kendal’ Transactions of the Romney Society vol. 4 (1999) pp. 18-28.
At the center of the page and below are four portrait studies of a woman and a child sitting (in one case standing) on a block-like support. These are most likely preliminary studies for Romney’s painting of Mrs. Edward Salisbury and Daughter, painted in Lancaster during the artist's trip to the north in 1767.
A sketch at the bottom left of the page may also be a portrait study. The woman descending a stairway bears a slight (probably coincidental) similarity to a figure descending stairs in 102. In this instance there is a faint suggestion of a second figure behind the woman. An oval shape in the crook of the figure's right arm is difficult to decipher. At the top left are two sketches of a seated nude and one of a standing woman.
Page 30At top left is a half-length portrait study of a woman placed in front of a curving wall topped by an urn. A flowing wrap with a wide edging opens to reveal the woman's dress. This drawing can be tied to Romney's portrait of Mrs. Wilbraham Bootle, c.1764. The figure’s left arm, which in the painting crosses her waist, is suggested here only by a gap in the shading of the cape. The wall topped by an urn as well as the landscape background appear in the completed painting. However, the hound, stroked by the sitter as it jumps at her side, a notable feature in the painting, is not in evidence here.
The sitter’s right hand does reach out, nonetheless, towards an unidentifiable object. (For other possible studies for this painting see 3 and 12 [bottom of page, upside down].)
Three drawings on the page are related to the kneeling woman seen first in 8, and are probably related to Romney's 1765 painting A lady’s head, in the character of a saint, three quarters. (See also 10 and 30.) In one of the drawings here, the figure sits rather than kneels. Two additional, possibly unrelated, drawings of seated women are at bottom left. At bottom right is a portrait study of a woman standing beside a child seated on a plinth. This echoes the drawings in 29. The awkward shading on the woman's drapery makes her right leg appear bare.
The four sketches (upside down at top right) of a man in vest, coat and breeches adopt a half-length pose loosely similar to that of Abraham Rawlinson, most likely painted in 1767. The figure’s air of casual aplomb suits a man of affairs. A faint unrelated sketch of a standing figure is next to these drawings.
Page 31A faint, undecipherable sketch is upside down at the top of the page. The other drawings on the page, also upside down, are related to one another. At mid-page, Romney has made a meticulous study from a model, producing an unusually detailed image. With a delicate line, he delineates the woman's long thin nose with its slight bump and her slightly opened mouth. Her complicated hairdo bound by a ribbon has been closely studied though the contemporary dress she wears is but lightly indicated. That this image haunted the artist is clear from its reappearance, in muted form, in later drawings (see 69 and 95). This figure’s pose and demeanor are echoed in the woman being closely contemplated by two men standing behind her. A lightly sketched figure is sprawled out in front of the standing woman, awkwardly fused with the other figures. (This figure is also seen in three, more distinct, studies at the left). That this man is meant to be included in the composition is made clear by comparison with the composition study in 25.
A woman with meekly lowered head accompanied by two old men naturally brings to mind The Accusation of Susannah, a story from the Apocrypha, in which a falsely accused, virtuous woman is delivered from her persecutors, thus demonstrating how the pure soul will be protected from peril. Various artists besides Romney were attracted to The Accusation of Susannah, among them Benjamin West, who chose it as the subject of one of his first history paintings. While the genesis of Romney's interest in The Accusation of Susannah would appear to be in the Kendal sketchbook, he was to pursue the subject in many drawings and at least one painting before and after his trip to Italy. As John Romney wrote: ‘The first time I saw Mr. Romney after his return from Italy, was in January, 1777, when I found him painting in the evening by lamplight. He was then engaged upon the subject of The Accusation of Susannah by the two Elders… This picture was never finished, owing probably to the difficulty and disagreeableness of painting by an artificial light. The figures were upon a small scale and numerous.’ Among the sketchbooks with drawings related to the subject are: Baroda No. 3; British Museum No. 1; Courtauld No 1; Royal Academy No 1; as well as the Holborn Library and Victoria & Albert Museum sketchbooks. There are also drawings in the Fitzwilliam, Princeton, and Yale collections. For related drawings in the Kendal Sketchbook, see 25, 92, and 99.
Page 32
At top right, upside down, is a male supporting a slumping woman (see note on 28). At bottom right, also upside down, is a running woman with flowing draperies. This figure may be related to the dancing figure at mid-page. (Dancing figures with cymbals can also be found in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No. 1.) A half-length of a woman, also at mid-page, calls to mind studies for A Lady’s head, in the character of a saint (see 8, 10, and 30). However, the woman's breasts may be too prominently emphasized to allow this drawing to be grouped with the others.
Page 33In landscape orientation are four studies of a nude male, his hands apparently bound behind him. This straining figure’s pose recalls that of Michelangelo’s Bound Slave, now in the Louvre. If that is the source of the motif, Romney would necessarily have studied the sculpture from a print since, at the time of Romney's visit to Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764, the Bound Slave was in Cardinal de Richelieu's chateau in Poitou. The fact that the drawing shows the figure in reverse further corroborates a print source. An unrelated drawing at upper right depicts a running female wearing a headdress, right hand outstretched and left hand grasping her skirt. This image might also reflect the influence of a print source.
Page 34The central image on this page depicts Romney’s composition for Rinaldo abandoning Armida, a subject first introduced in 6. In this version, a muscular boatman is shown from the back, along with other figures in the boat at the left. A second slight sketch of the central figure from this composition appears above.
Additional drawings appear upside down on the page. The most detailed of these depicts a striding female holding arrows in her right hand (see related figures in 64 and 35.) Here the female is accompanied by several additional figures. A second faint drawing on this subject appears at the top of the page. The goddess Diana has a bow and arrows as attributes. It is conceivable Romney might have considered staging a portrait with the sitter in the guise of Diana, much as Reynolds would do in his Duchess of Manchester Disarming Cupid, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1769.
The faint sketch of a seated figure at top left may be compared with a figure in a similar pose in three studies (in reverse) in 31. The final drawing on the page, a very faint sketch of a seated woman is upside down at top right.
Page 35A striding female at lower right (upside down) holds an object in her right hand – perhaps sticks or arrows as held by the female in 34. Two faint sketches at the top of this page introduce a new subject. They depict a standing, crowned king, who is seen more clearly in a composition drawing on the following page (36). Most of the remaining drawings on this page also appear to relate to that composition, with two exceptions, both upside down at the left. At mid-page is a very faint sketch of a female nude. The other drawing, which is cut off at the left margin, shows a figure from the back, perhaps accompanied by a dog, and part of another figure. The drawing appears to be related to a composition drawing in 12.
Page 36Figure studies seen in 35 come into better focus here as a full composition for a subject painting. Within an expansive interior, a crowned king stands astride two stairs. A seated woman, presumably the queen, sits to the left of the king. Many courtiers are also present, including two figures kneeling at the feet of the king and an infant clutching the king's leg. At first glance, it would be tempting to interpret this as The Judgment of Solomon. However, one of the figures kneeling before the king appears to be male (see also 37). Thus, an alternate interpretation presents itself: that it shows an episode in the Perseus and Andromeda legend, a mythological subject that Romney focuses on in many drawings in this album (see note on 50 and related drawings.) This particular composition may depict the confrontation of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia with Phineus, who had been Andromeda's betrothed before Perseus arrived to rescue and subsequently marry her. Two figure studies for this composition appear below the larger drawing. If this interpretation is correct, it would represent the second instance in this sketchbook where Romney illustrates two episodes from the same story (as he did with Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata). At the bottom of the page are two portrait studies of a seated woman with two children. These are closely related to drawings in 7.
Page 37At top, portions of the composition in 36 are studied. The powerful anatomy of the kneeling male is notable. At the center of the page, two faint sketches of a standing figure, right leg bent, may or may not relate to this composition. Below is a faint drawing of a half-draped female seen from behind, with indications of a second figure to the right and possibly putti to the left (though these are very difficult to decipher). Too vague to be confidently identified, this could possibly be related either to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s Enchanted Garden or The Toilet of Venus.
Page 38All the drawings are upside down on the page. The large figure within a landscape setting relates to three studies in 19, possibly an interpretation by Romney of Terpsichore by Le Sueur. The figure's unusual striped gown has a wide square neck. The chiaroscuro rendering of the drapery covering the lower half of the woman's body highlights the right knee and left thigh. However, the proportions of this figure are elongated and the knee is far too low on the body. The method of developing the drapery shapes at the right side of the drawing is curiously abstract and incremental, meaning the drapery folds are not combined convincingly. Vegetation is studied in some detail at lower right. This drawing can be compared with similar drawings in Abbot Hall Sketchbook No. l.
A drawing of a woman in a flowing headdress holding a staff in her left hand appears upside down at the top of the page. A seascape opens up behind, within which one can make out a tiny ship with billowing sails and a spiraling plume of smoke rising in the far distance. Other forms in the background are difficult to read though architectural forms appear to line the shore. On page 43, this same figure appears again, along with a seated female resting her arm on an urn. In that instance, the drawing suggests a portrait study, one related to Two Sisters contemplating on Mortality. This seems to be a case where a portrait study elides into an idea for a subject painting.
Three additional drawings are at the top of the page. Two depict standing women; one of these, with flowing drapery, is probably a dancer. The third drawing shows standing man supporting a slumping woman, a subject introduced in 28, though here reversed (see other examples in 32, 39, 40, 53, and 78).
Page 39All the drawings on this page are upside down. Three drawings (one very faint) depict a man supporting a slumping woman, as in 28, 32, 38, 40, 53, and 78. In one of the drawings, the male’s plumed helmet marks him definitively as a Roman. At the center of the page are two small studies of faces. One suggests a male, most likely the helmeted male just mentioned. (It is remarkable how adeptly the helmeted man's tiny face conveys these same features.) The other facial study, curiously, presents a slighter version of the woman shown with such clarity and detail at the center of the page in 31. The sequencing of these two female images is tantalizing; were both drawn from life at the same time? Why do they appear eight pages apart?
Eight additional drawings, varying in clarity, depict seated and standing figures. Three of these drawings, showing two women standing together, may be related to Romney’s painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. These can be compared to figures in 43. There, one of the women points at a sculpted relief, a clear connection to the theme of mortality. Two of the eight drawings depict a woman with an upraised left arm. This figure can be compared with one in a drawing in 7.
Page 40At the top of the page, upside-down, is a portrait study of two seated females in a landscape. One holds a stringed instrument, possibly a citern or mandolin. One of the figures appears to have an open book in her lap, perhaps a musical score. However, the resolution of the two figures is confusing, making it difficult to tell whose body is whose. A different treatment of this subject can be seen in 64. Though two females are represented, it would be difficult to see this grouping as a variant composition for Romney’s Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. The portrait's theme may instead be the Arts.
Below this portrait study is a man's face, turned offprofile and viewed slightly from above. This same face, in less detailed form, first appeared at the center of 39, upside down. As there, this is presumably the face of the man in a plumed helmet supporting a slumping woman, a study for which appears below this face. Opposite these two drawings, in landscape orientation, are dancing figures. This group is somewhat similar to dancers at the left in 41. See additional dancers in 17, 44, 72, and 76. A sketch of two women, upside down at bottom left echoes one of the pairs in 39. Next to this pair is a slight sketch of a woman who appears to be collapsing. Though reminiscent of a similar figure in 15, there is nevertheless no compelling reason to connect this image with that one.
Page 41A group of dancing figures occupies much of this page. One figure holds a triangle and another a tambourine. The graphite images are touched up in places with ink. These figures are most likely related to Romney's painting of Mirth, on which he was engaged in 1769. In that painting, the figure of Mirth holds a tambourine while a figure in the background holds aloft a triangle. The dancer at the right impinges upon a separate drawing, which depicts a standing figure with widespread legs. Another standing figure unrelated to the dancers is seen to the right. For other drawings with dancers see 17, 40, 44, 72, and 76.
Page 42Four drawings of a seated female nude (in two instances shown with another figure and with suggestions of a mirror) relate to the subject of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). In one of the drawings putti are included. At bottom right is a seated, partially nude female with upraised arms. Two additional drawings, one very faint, depict this same figure. A standing figure is superimposed over the faintest of these drawings.
The striding female upside down at top right is similar to a figure appearing in composition studies in 38 and 43, though in these instances no staff is visible in her left hand. (See also related figures in 34 and 35.)
To the left of the striding female, also upside down, are five sketches, some very slight, of a seated woman. In the most readable of these, the woman's left arm appears to rest on an urn, as does that of a similar figure in the composition in 43 in which the striding woman appears. For other drawings in which a woman rests her arm on an urn see 7, 21, 45, 51, and 98.
Page 43The drawing upside down at top left shows two females standing before a pedestal topped with an urn, presumably a grave monument. One of the two figures points her left arm towards a raised relief on the front of the monument (see two figures in similar poses in a drawing in 39). This is presumably a preliminary trial for Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23.) The drawing next to this likewise depicts two females, one of them with her left hand atop an urn, an obvious symbol of mortality. Therefore, this would also seem to be an idea for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality even though the second figure holds a staff, not an attribute commonly associated with the mortality theme. For other drawings in which this seated woman with an urn appears, see 7, 21, 4 5, and 51. Drawings that show the second figure holding a staff include 7, 47, 51, and 52.
A drawing upside down at the bottom of the page shows a female holding a large book. If this is meant to refer to The Book of Life, in which the names of those who will live forever are recorded, it provides another appropriate prop for a painting on the theme of mortality. For analogous drawings of a female holding a large book see 80 and 81. A large drawing of a seated woman appears in landscape orientation at the center of the page. The final drawing on the page depicts a standing female in a landscape, probably a portrait study.
Page 44Drawings of dancers, some with musical instruments, fill this page. Some images are upside down; others are in landscape orientation. As in 40, a tambourine is held aloft by some of the dancers, suggesting a connection to Romney’s painting of Mirth, on which the artist was engaged in 1769. For other groups of dancers see 17, 40, 41, 72, and 76.
Page 45At the top of the sheet, upside-down, is a drawing in a slightly flattened oval format; a woman and an infant recline at the left; to the right, an awkwardly posed figure, looking back towards the reclining woman, rushes away. Rays from the sun fan out into the sky in the middle distance. A semi-nude in flowing drapery flies through the air. Above this figure, faint lines suggest additional figures and/or clouds. This may represent Eos, i.e. Aurora, rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn who rose each morning from the river Oceanus to separate Night from Day. The inspiration is presumably an allegorical painting, perhaps one the artist saw on his trip to Paris in 1764. The unusual format suggests this may be a copy or a recollection of a painting used for wall or ceiling decoration.
A detailed, densely-shaded portrait study of two seated females, one resting her arms on an oval-shaped urn, appears on the lower half of the page. This drawing is the most finished of a group of related drawings (see also 7, 21, 43, and 51). As the urn has an obvious reference to mortality, this presumably represents an alternate staging for Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality.
An additional slight half-length sketch of a standing woman is to the left.
Page 46At right center are studies of seated females. The two at the left suggest the poses of the two sisters in 45. Upsidedown, below these figures, is a drawing of a woman in a chariot, amidst clouds above and below. The composition conforms to an oval shape, similar to that of the drawing on the previous page. If these share an allegorical theme, this could be Aurora, goddess of the dawn, this time depicted in her chariot, which was a favorite subject of Baroque artists. Romney was drawn to the work of Baroque artists of the 17th century, as recorded in the journal Thomas Greene kept of his and Romney's journey to Paris in 1764.
Page 47The composition marked out at the bottom of the page depicts two seated females. In the relaxed ease of its poses and plethora of rustling silks, it signals an attempt at portraiture in the Grand Manner. Reinforcing its seriousness of purpose is the imposing urn-topped structure, presumably a grave monument, towards which the sitters gaze. The direct allusion to mortality brings the conclusion that this is one of a number of ideas Romney tried out while working on Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. A different version of this idea, where the figures also contemplate a grave monument, can be seen in 43. For a detailed drawing with figures in analogous poses accompanied by symbols of mortality, see 45.
Above this, a less detailed drawing depicts two women in somewhat similar poses. Here, however, one of the figures holds a staff in an upraised arm. (The arm is shown in alternate renderings.) The same figure is seen in a second drawing, now placed to the right of the second figure. Here, the staff suggests a distaff. (Curiously, a distaff-holding figure will elide into a composition on an entirely different subject in 48). For related drawings, in which one of the figures holds a staff, see 7, 43, 51, and 52. The slight figure study of a seated female is probably related to these drawings.
Upside down on the page is a drawing of two seated figures, one apparently holding a mirror. This connects the image to depictions of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). The two infants nearby also probably relate to this composition.
Page 48A sketch at the bottom left recalls a similar couple in 47, a depiction of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. Here, however, the mirror is only faintly suggested. A study of a reclining female nude is adjacent to this drawing. Above these drawings, upside down on the page, are two additional depictions of a male and female, now given entirely different attributes and identities. It was common for Romney to reuse and alter figural arrangements as he moved amongst a variety of subjects in his sketchbooks. That is evident on this page. In the composition demarcated by lines, a shepherd plays his syrinx; his flock of sheep is suggested to the left. His female companion, lightly clad, holds a distaff, yam, and spindle. Such bucolic scenes were popular in the 18th century, particularly amongst French artists such as Boucher. Many such scenes derive ultimately from Daphnis and Chloe, a romance by the Greek writer Longus, assumed to have lived in the 2nd century A.D. The sunburst on the horizon in this drawing echoes a similar motif in an oval drawing in 45. Perhaps both drawings were inspired by a cycle of paintings Romney saw in Paris in 1764.
In John Romney’s list of his father's ‘Pictorial Designs and Studies’, which John Romney gave to Cambridge University in 1817, three of the designs, as he wrote in his memoir of his father, ‘are taken from the pastoral romance of Longus. It was the intention of Mr. Romney to have painted two pictures of the size of life, of which these were the studies.’ There are sketches on the subject in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 (8, 9) and RA Sketchbook No. 2 (4, 4v, 5, 5v, 6v, 7, 8, 8v, 9, 34v, and possibly additional ones). Interestingly, in the RA sketchbook, the drawings of Daphnis and Chloe are immediately followed by drawings of Rinaldo and Armida. This shows the same fusion of subject matter that takes place here. For another treatment of this subject, see 49. A faint sketch of a woman's torso appears upside down at center right.
Page 49At the bottom left is a drawing related to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's Enchanted Garden. In the upper part of the page, upside down, are two studies of figures from the pastoral composition in 48. The remaining drawings on this sheet are studies of figures in a variety of poses. The lumpish figures at mid-page contrast strongly with the slender figures below.
Page 50Five drawings on this page are related to the subject of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida's enchanted Garden (see note on 22).
The composition drawing at center left represents Perseus Freeing Andromeda, a subject that Romney pursued in a large number of drawings in this sketchbook. A drawing of a nude female in 22 may be the first drawing on the theme; the rest are clustered together on this page and pages following (see 51-63). It is unusual in this sketchbook to find drawings on the same subject so closely concentrated. The basic composition depicts a bound nude woman being rescued by a man in classical apparel. In some drawings, as here, additional figures appear. These are presumably Cepheus, Andromeda’s grateful father, and an attendant. Cepheus, in Greek legend, was king of Ethiopia. His queen, Cassiopeia, had boasted that her beauty was equal to that of the Nereids. This drew a swift response from Poseidon, who flooded the land and let loose a sea serpent, which ravaged the kingdom. The oracle of Zeus proclaimed that no relief could be hoped for until the king exposed his daughter to the sea monster. Thus Andromeda was fastened to a rock on the shore. When Perseus appeared, he slew the monster and subsequently married Andromeda although she had previously been betrothed to her uncle Phineas. (For drawings that may relate to another phase of the Perseus and Andromeda legend, see 35, 36, and 37.)
Page 51At the top of the page is a study for Perseus Freeing Andromeda (see 50). Here, Perseus as well as the background to the right have been filled in and shaded. At bottom left is a figure study of Perseus and Andromeda. At mid-page is a reclining female, which echoes those in 50. At top left is a sketch too faint to decipher.
At bottom right is a portrait study of two females in a landscape setting. The right arm of the seated woman rests atop an oval urn, a symbol of mortality; the standing figure holds a staff. Compare this to drawings in 7, 21, 43, 45, 47, 51, 52, and 104. Romney is either experimenting here with a variant composition for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality or exploring a concept for a different double portrait.
Page 52Two drawings of a pair of women at the center of the page are probably related to Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23). The figures stand side by side as in the painting, although here they are shown fulllength. Below these drawings is a composition marked off on the page showing figures in a landscape setting. One figure sits; the second stands, holding a staff. (A figure in a similar pose, also holding a staff, appears in 38.) A very faint, indeed scarcely visible, sketch of the same composition appears at upper left. This is echoed in an equally slight drawing upside down at top right in 89.
A faint drawing at top right depicts a seated nude, possibly Andromeda (see similar drawings in 54). The final drawing on the page shows a seated man, perhaps holding a staff, accompanied by a kneeling woman.
Page 53Two drawings at the bottom of the page and one at the top depict Perseus Freeing Andromeda. Here, Andromeda is seated, thrusting backwards, rather than standing as she is in 50 and 51. Perseus rests his right knee on a rock. A faint sketch just below the middle of the page also depicts Andromeda. At mid-page right is a drawing of a man struggling with a woman, which harks back to figure studies in 28, 32, 38, 39 and 40, as well as 78. With magnification, the scramble of lines to the right of the pair can be seen to represent horsemen brandishing shields, i.e. a battle scene. This subject probably relates to Tarquin and Lucretia, a subject from Roman history. Unlike other of Romney’s drawings of this pair in the sketchbook, this particular one depicts Lucretia as very much alive and struggling with her attacker. Her fist is clenched, and a faint line may suggest her dagger. (Subsequent to her rape by Tarquin, Lucretia committed suicide by stabbing herself.) Barrow Sketchbook No. 1 has similar drawings of a woman struggling with a man, in which the dagger is visible (63, 69, 77) as well as drawings which show her slumping in his arms (66,73,79).
This page includes five detailed facial studies. The topmost one shows a thoughtful woman in near profile, her chin and the lower part of her face darkly shaded. This drawing appears unrelated to other drawings on the page. Behind this drawing, another profile has been scratched out. Below is a closely observed face of a woman with upturned eyes and slightly open mouth. This mouth is studied in two additional drawings. It is quite possible these three drawings are studies for Andromeda.
Page 54This page has eight studies of Andromeda in a seated pose, as in 53. In one of the drawings, the figure of Perseus is shown.
Page 55All the drawings on this page depict Perseus Freeing Andromeda. At the bottom of the page, within a rectangle marked off by lines, the subject is shown in some detail. Andromeda is seated on rocks, her bound arms raised above her head. In contrast to similar studies in 53 as well as here, Perseus appears to the left of Andromeda. All parts of the composition study are filled with shading to indicate rocks, sea, mountains, and sky. One of the drawings contains an alternate study for Perseus and shows Andromeda standing rather than sitting.
Page 56Five studies of the nude Andromeda appear at the bottom. At the top are two of Andromeda with Perseus. In one, Perseus is at the right of Andromeda; in the other he is on the left. The artist is actively experimenting with elements of his composition.
Page 57 A detailed drawing on the lower half of this page explores the composition of Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The composition is reversed from its initial configuration in 50 and 51. Here, Perseus is at the left; the bearded, crowned King and a kneeling figure are shown to the right. Andromeda is shown in a pose intermediate. between sitting and standing. This is the most detailed composition for the subject seen thus far in the sketchbook. However, there is a discordant element in that Andromeda's head is unnaturally small in relation to her arms.
A less detailed version of the subject is at the top. Three additional figures are indicated to the right. Two slight studies of Andromeda appear above mid-page, both of them infringed upon by adjacent drawings. The final drawing, upside-down on the page, is unrelated to Perseus and Andromeda. It depicts a young woman sporting an unusual hairdo, which is piled high at the sides and parted in the center.
Page 58Two drawings for Perseus Freeing Andromeda echo the compositional scheme in 57, though here Andromeda's right leg supports her weight. In the study at the top of the page, upside down, the king and the kneeling figure have been joined by additional figures. Two additional sketches of Andromeda appear on the page.
Page 59Three drawings, upside down on the page, plus a very faint additional sketch of Andromeda, relate to Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The composition includes a kneeling figure to the right; plus, in one case, additional figures. In the drawing at the bottom of the page, the figure of the king is cut off at the margin. In two of the drawings, Andromeda’s right arm is upraised, still bound, while her left one is held by the kneeling figure. This differs from a number of earlier drawings in the series, which show her with both arms bound. In these drawings, as in 58, Andromeda stands erect. In the drawing topmost on the page, viewed right side up, a form to the left of Perseus may give a faint suggestion of the vanquished dragon, with its lolling tongue, staring eye, and arching brow.
Page 60Three drawings, upside-down, are all studies for Perseus Freeing Andromeda. In one of these, figures to the right of the couple can be discerned (compare with 57).
Page 61All five drawings on this page, only two of them right side up, are related to the subject of Perseus Freeing Andromeda. In two of the drawings, Andromeda is unnaturally small in relation to Perseus. One very faint sketch depicts the kneeling figure seen in earlier drawings of the composition (see 57). Another very faint sketch at bottom left shows the outspread arms of the king and gives a suggestion of his body.
Page 62This page has eight sketches, of varying clarity, relating to the subject of Perseus Freeing Andromeda (see note on 50). The drawing upside down at top right is unusual in that, for the first time, Andromeda is drawn from the back. Three additional figure studies, two of them adopting this same pose, are nearby. At mid-page are two sketches of the kneeling figure, seen more clearly in 57, as well as very slight sketches of the king and, possibly, Andromeda.
While Romney continues to explore the Perseus and Andromeda theme here, his concentration on this subject is beginning to waver. For example, a drawing at mid-page right is a portrait study of two seated females (compare with 47). The subject matter of three other drawings at the bottom of the page is elusive. One is too faint to decipher; a second shows a seated couple; a third depicts a standing woman, possibly holding a tambourine. This last could be a preliminary study for Mirth, a painting Romney was working on in 1769. It fits in generically with other drawings of dancers in the sketchbook (see, for example, 44).
Page 63
The nine drawings on this page mix together ideas for subject pictures and portrait studies, as was common with Romney. At lower left is the final drawing in the sketchbook depicting Perseus Freeing Andromeda. The poses are similar to those first adopted in 53. Above this drawing is a study for Romney s Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, depicted here full-length. This drawing, with shading employed on costume and background, is more fully worked up than other similar drawings in the sketchbook (see 23, 73, 75, 77, 88, 100 and 102). At the top of the page, is a study for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see note on 22). A second, less detailed, study for this subject as well as a partial figure study of Armida appear below midpage. Below mid-page at right is a highly anomalous but very interesting tiny sketch. It depicts the face, neck and shoulder of a man with tousled curls, whose most striking characteristic is a long, tapering moustache. His large eyes give him a piercing gaze. The moustache is one Nicholas Hilliard could have sported at the court of Elizabeth I, or that of a late 19th-century dandy, but it seems wholly out of context in the 18th century. How this singular image found its way into the sketchbook is curious, to say the least. It would be tempting to suspect the intervention of another hand but difficult to imagine how and when such could have occurred. Perhaps this is instead a fleeting image garnered from a print. Sketches of a striding figure, a seated couple, and a seated woman complete the drawings on the page.
Page 64The female playing a stringed instrument in a drawing at top left echoes a similar figure in 40. In both of these compositions, a second female is depicted with a large book, perhaps a musical score. In this instance the book is supported on a pedestal. Below this group is a standing woman in contrapposto holding what appears to be a bow (see a similar figure, combined with additional figures, in 34). To the right is another standing female whose ample breasts and bulging belly suggest pregnancy; however, this may simply result from an awkward rendering of the image.
Three drawings at the bottom depict a man seizing a woman and raising her off the ground. The profusion of rushing lines gives an energy and immediacy to the sketches. A violent scene of abduction, this brings to mind The Rape of the Sabine Women as sculpted by Giambologna and painted by Poussin and others, which Romney would no doubt have known through prints. At the same time, one of Poussin’s two versions of the Rape of the Sabine Women was in the Royal Collections in Paris, where Romney might have familiarized himself with the subject. In addition, the Duke of Richmond's cast gallery had figures and a relief relating to Giambologna's sculpture, which Romney would have seen. Four drawings upside down on the page are also related to this tumultuous subject, and additional related drawings can be seen in 65, 66, and 67. These struggling figures in violent action are very different in character from somewhat analogous drawings in the sketchbook showing a man supporting a slumping woman, e.g. 2 and others. Romney was fully capable of adapting similar poses to very different subjects in a continuous evolution of motifs.
Page 65Five drawings of figures in violent action suggest the Rape of the Sabine Women (see also 64, 66, and 67). The couple seen in three drawings at the bottom of 64 is now included within a larger group. The profusion of jumbled lines here, however, does not convey the figures as skillfully as the drawings in 64, which must have been done with a closer eye on the artist's source. Romney has had problems integrating the struggling couple into a larger group. Two additional sketches of seated figures on the page are unrelated to the Rape of the Sabine Women theme.
Page 66
In addition to two drawings of the Rape of the Sabine Women, this page has three studies of a carefully shaded female head (the largest drawn over the upper part of a male nude). These are presumably studies for the head of the woman being abducted in the drawing to the right. Though the woman's calm, resigned expression seems unsuited to expressing the agony of a potential rape victim, it conveys something of the stoic resolve of Poussin’s classical manner. Similar facial expressions on faces of the rape victims in Poussin’s Louvre version of the Rape of the Sabine Women may mark that painting (or a print of the same) as the source here. See additional drawings related to the Rape of the Sabine Women, in 64, 65, and 67. Elegantly calligraphic S-shaped curves are employed to strike out faint images at the right.
Page 67Two drawings with numerous figures as well as three additional figure studies are related to the Rape of the Sabine Women. As in drawings on this subject in 65 and 66, Romney has not been completely successful here in conveying the actions of the energetic couples originally presented in 64, where violent physical movements were so vividly portrayed.
Page 68Romney's concentration on violent scenes of abduction and rape comes to an abrupt stop here, with the artist providing a complete change of pace. A single large landscape drawing, presented sideways, fills this page. This landscape is simple in its elements: A dark sea laps against an indented shore. A large, sloping hill rises up at the right. From a dark sky filled with billowing clouds, slanted lines strike the hill, suggesting rain. This view was recently identified as Whitbarrow Scar from Levens village, Kendal. Though the artist's focus was seldom on landscapes as such, except as backgrounds for his portraits, Romney was highly sensitive to the grandeur of nature. His vivid description of the landscape he encountered on an excursion to the Isle of Wight demonstrates this: ‘The sudden appearance of the sea, and rocky scenery struck me more forcibly than anything of the kind, I had ever seen before’ (letter quoted in William Hayley’s life of Romney, p. 217).
Page 69Two drawings in opposite orientation to one another depict the same composition, showing three figures in a landscape; a figure to the left, resting its right arm on a pier (or a club?) and supporting its chin, looks towards two standing women to the right, one of whom points to the sky, where (in one of the drawings) a figure, or figures, appear amidst clouds. In the background of the second drawing, a group of dancing figures appears.
At the top of the page, upside down, a standing figure viewed from the back is probably also related to this composition. The subject is plausibly The Choice of Hercules. The pensive Hercules (though it is difficult to make out his club amidst the draperies) looks towards Virtue and Vice, each of whom tries to tempt him to follow her lead. Vice points towards the dancers and the enticements of worldly pleasure. Virtue, on the other hand, points towards the heavens, and the promised luster of lasting glory to be achieved through great deeds. This subject, which derives from Xenophon’s Memorabilia, was earlier depicted by Carracci, Poussin, and many others. Sir Joshua Reynolds employed the allegory in staging his humorous rendering of Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy, which was exhibited in 1762 at the Society of Artists and which Romney would surely have known. In this instance, the artist plays it straight, employing the subject in its usual allegorical guise rather than using it as a conceit for staging a portrait. Benjamin West did the same in his 1764 painting of The Choice of Hercules between Virtue and Pleasure (Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 40-1886).
A different subject is featured upside down at the top of the page in a drawing depicting a reclining couple in a landscape setting. It has some similarity to a composition in 46 and 48 though poses and attributes of the couple differ. Additional figures, perhaps putti, are at the right. (A line marking the left border of this composition crosses over another faint image of the seated woman.)
A final drawing on this page appears upside down at center left. Though minuscule, the face of this woman is surprisingly explicit. It is reminiscent of the larger and more detailed study of a female in 31 though here the nose is a straight line and the protruding upper lip is not in evidence, giving the figure a more classical impersonality. The modest contemporary dress of the figure in 31 has become soft drapery which clings to, when it doesn't directly expose, the woman's breasts. This small, incisive drawing is presumably intended as a study for the central figure in the composition next to it. As is often the case in Romney's drawings, certain images, e.g. that seen in 31, adumbrate later ones. Motifs and specific images are set down by the artist within new settings as his creativity courses through his sketchbooks. A remembered type, studied from a model that made a strong impression on the artist, appears again, separated by many pages from its first appearance (see also 95).
Page 70This page contains five graphite studies of women. One of the figures in the center is depicted descending stairs, the same staging seen, for example, in 72 and 102. The poses used in these figures at the center of the page create types that the artist used in such portraits as Mrs. Thomas Scott Jack son and Mrs. Henry Verelst. A sixth drawing, upside down at the bottom of the page uses red chalk as the medium. It depicts a seated woman whose bent leg rests on a block-like support.
Page 71Drawings appear on this page in a mixture of orientations. Beneath an unintelligible scribble at the top of the page are four drawings of reclining figures. One is female; the other three are male. The next drawings amidst this grab bag of images are two studies of elderly bearded men, one of whom appears to support a large book on his knee. This figure may possibly be related to a similar figure, in reverse, in the lunette in 78. The second male figure, set off within a rectangle, looks upward and supports his head with his left hand. Three dancers with billowing draperies come next. The central dancer is particularized by her dress, in a manner unusual in this sketchbook. Her Greek chiton suggests the influence of a classical or Quattrocento source. The final three drawings are of a kneeling figure and two standing nudes. One of them supports draperies with an upraised arm. One wonders if these could be sketches the artist set down as he pored over his collection of prints.
Page 72A large, but sketchy drawing of dancing figures appears upside down on the upper half of the page. These suggest the dancers in the bacchanalian relief seen in the background of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 73). The possibility that this drawing is related to that painting is strengthened by the appearance on this page of other sketches with a more obvious connection. Below, in a rectangular format, is a fulllength portrait study of two women, one descending stairs. Another study for these figures appears at bottom right; and see also drawings in 73, and 77. In this composition, one female faces the other and points a finger at her.
Page 73Drawings of two striding females, which began in 23, continue here and in the following: 74, 75, 77, 88, 89, 91, 100, 102 and 103. All may be connected to Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Most of the drawings depict full-length figures instead of the half-length ones the artist opted for in the finished painting.
The other three drawings on the page should be compared with the composition drawing of two females in 72. This is a possible variant of the Two Sisters composition, one in which the two women face each other. Two of the sketches here suggest that a third figure is present; however, this is probably an alternate rendering of the figure to the left. Romney apparently experimented with a number of different compositional arrangements in staging his portrait of these two sisters.
Page 74The composition marked out within a rectangle can presumably be tied to drawings for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden though the ungainly shape the male reaches towards does not much resemble a mirror and his face is not directed towards the female's. At the left side, this drawing impinges upon a sketch of a male standing with legs apart.
At the bottom of the page are two pairs of striding figures. In this case it is more of a stretch to connect them to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. It is doubtful that the half-draped figure in the center is connected to the other figures, but, in any case, the whole group of drawings presents a puzzle. A faint sketch of a seated woman in profile at bottom center is impinged upon by the drawing to its right.
Page 75The three figures towards the top of the page depict Rinaldo and his companions from Rinaldo abandoning Armida (see note on 6 and also 20 23, 34, 80, 81, 93, and possibly 24). Drawings on this subject are widely spaced in the sketchbook. Clearly, it was a topic that obsessed the artist and which he kept returning to. Besides Rinaldo and Armida, Romney may have dealt with other lovers featured in Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata. For example, a drawing from a later period apparently depicting Tancred and Erminia is in the Detroit Institute of Arts (see Jean Wallis, ‘The Mind and Soul of Romney's Art and the Poussin Connection’ Transactions of the Romney Society, Vol. 4, 1999). The drawing of two standing women suggests the poses of the women in 72. A slight drawing of a seated woman in profile is to the right. Compare this to a drawing at bottom center in 63.
Page 76Several sketches, some very faint, depict dancing figures with flowing draperies. As with 72, it is possible these are preparatory sketches for the bacchanalian relief in Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see other drawings of dancers in 17, 40, 41 and 44). Aimless, meandering scribbles appear above mid-page.
Page 77Three drawings of a pair of females here reflect the poses of the figures in the composition in 72, in which the figures stand on a stairway and the two figures face each other. As there, the woman to the left points her index finger at the second woman. In the two drawings at the bottom of the page, however, both women appear less confrontational as they progress together. Their poses have some similarity to those in Romney's painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality as seen in the Robert Dunkarton mezzotint (see 23). In the center of the page is a seated figure, leaning back, right arm extended.
Page 78Drawings appear upside down and sideways on the page. Two depict the helmeted man and slumping woman seen in many earlier drawings (see 28, 32, 38, 39, 40 and 53). In this instance, the woman's collapse is more pronounced as she bends straight back from the waist, insensate or perhaps even dead. Barrow Sketchbook No. 1 has numerous pen and ink drawings on this subject, and there are drawings also in Truro Sketchbook No. 1 (see specifically 22v).
Within a lunette at the left of the page, in landscape orientation, is an entirely new subject. Lightly sketched putti appear to the left. Next comes a seated figure wearing a gown and helmet. She supports a shield with her right hand and the staff of a flag with her left. That this figure is plausibly Athena is strengthened by the presence of a roundel on her bosom, presumably the roundel of Medusa, which is traditionally featured on the goddess’s aegis. Athena leans against a lightly sketched oval form that, although very faint, suggests a framed landscape. Behind this, a pedestal topped by a sculpture separates the Athena figure from a bulky, bearded male holding a large book or tablet. At this figure's knee, a putto, viewed from behind, stands cross-legged as he turns a globe resting on a square support. A second sketch of this putto appears above. This is an evolved allegorical composition, which Romney presumably copied from a source, perhaps one in Paris. Upside down at the top of the page is a group of four figures which may or may not belong together. The intended subject has not been identified.
Page 79Upside-down at the center of the page are two forceful drapery studies of the lower portion of a figure, suggesting Terpsichore (see note on 19. There is a faint suggestion of a triangle suspended from the figure's left hand; see also 16 and 38). The heavy hatching of the drapery is meant to model the figure but is unsystematic since the source of light is imperfectly indicated. A
drawing of a standing woman appears at the bottom of the page.
Page 80Upside down and covering the top half of this sheet is a composition depicting a reluctant male being urged towards a boat by two companions. He gazes behind him up in the body of a supine female with raised right leg. This depicts Rinaldo abandoning Armida. This subject is depicted in a number of drawings spread widely through the sketchbook (see also 6, 20, 23, 34, 75, 81, 93 and, possibly, 24). Romney was random in his approach, and the sequencing of drawings within this sketchbook is no guarantee as to when each was made. This drawing is no more complete or detailed than any of the earlier treatments of the theme, and less so than some. At the bottom of the page are four sketches of females one carrying a closed, another an open, book (see also 43 and 81.)
Page 81At lower left is the same female carrying a large book we saw in 80 (see also 43). Also repeated from 80, in reverse, is Rinaldo abandoning Armida. Here, the woman is hugely out of scale with the figures heading towards the boat. The boat and its boatmen are visible at the right. Two additional, very faint, sketches of figures related to this composition appear above and to the left of the composition drawing.
Page 82At top right is a composition drawing for The Warren Family which Romney completed by the end of April 1769. Though the composition here is close to that in the completed painting (see also a drawing in 96), it is clear that Romney is still experimenting with the poses of the figures, as a drawing of these same three figures at bottom right attests. If three faint drawings on this page of a seated man and woman are also related to the The Warren Family, they would be the only ones in this sketchbook which show both father and mother seated. However, given their similarity to drawings in 83, they probably represent a different subject.
To the left side of the page, in landscape orientation, are three drawings of Danae. Great care is taken in the modeling of the nude figure. This is the first time Romney has dealt with this subject in the sketchbook. The most detailed of these drawings shows the figure leaning back against rolled pillows and extending her left arm towards the golden shower (not indicated here). At this stage of Romney’s career, drawings of female nudes must be assumed to be derived from sculptures, paintings, or prints and to be intended for inclusion in subject paintings. Later, when in Rome, the artist would study the nude from life.
Page 83This sheet depicts subjects seen in 82. Once again, the bifurcation of subject matter mirrors Romney's dilemma: his need to paint portraits to earn his daily bread despite his determination to excel in the higher category of history painting.
The two portrait studies at the top of the page depict the same two seated figures that appear in three sketches in 82. At mid-page, in landscape orientation, the Danae figure seen in 82 appears in a composition set off within lines. In this instance, a cloud above the nude figure indicates the golden shower in which Zeus appeared to Danae. The figure with outspread arms at the left provides a particularly energetic interpretation of Danae's attendant. Jean-Baptiste Greuze gave an equally prominent focus to the handmaiden in an unfinished painting now in the Louvre (M.1.1068), which dates from 1760-70. In that painting the composition is reversed, with the attendant standing at the right, in front of the goddess's couch. Romney dined with Greuze during his visit to Paris in 1790, and it is also possible he met the artist during his visit to Paris with Thomas Greene in 1764, when he could have seen and been inspired by Greuze's interpretation of this subject.
Page 84In contrast to the lunette drawing in 78, the subject in this particular lunette can be identified. The drawing depicts Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). Romney was either copying a work he saw in the same format or is designing his own composition for placement within a lunette. The latter seems unlikely as Romney was at no stage in his career hired as a painter of decorative interiors. Therefore, it is intriguing that he used the lunette framework for a number of drawings in succession. This drawing captures the intent of Tasso's verse; the seated Armida looks towards the mirror as the enthralled Rinaldo gazes into Armida's face (his left arm is studied twice). In contrast, the drawing to the right of this one, also in landscape orientation, places Rinaldo beneath Armida in a position from which it would be difficult to stare upwards into her face. However, this drawing reflects Domenichino's rendering of the subject. Two studies of Rinaldo appear beneath this drawing.
The remaining drawings, if viewed in landscape orientation, present a series of three images cascading down the page. Seen together they give a dramatic illustration of Romney's tendency to make split-second elisions from one subject to another. The first drawing suggests Venus, seen from the back, straining to restrain Adonis from leaving on the hunt; there is even a suggestion of Adonis' spear (see Romney's copy of Titian's painting in 16). A second similar drawing, in which the Adonis figure now appears to be seated, impinges upon a third drawing in which Adonis has
become Rinaldo, thrusting out a mirror as he leans against Armida.
Page 85The three drawings on this page relate to the theme of Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). In the uppermost drawing, inscribed within a lunette, three putti are depicted, one of which lifts up the mirror. Oddly, although the figure to the left is presented through an unruly pattern of lines and is thus difficult to decipher, it appears to have breasts and wears a gown instead of a tunic, as in another depiction of Rinaldo on the page. Perhaps the artist intended to switch the positions of Rinaldo and Armida. As it stands, the image is confusing.
Page 86
This sheet evokes Paris. The faint drawing at upper right suggests, in reverse, the Pieta by Nicolas Coustou behind the high altar in Notre Dame, Paris. Romney and Greene visited Notre Dame on September 19th and 27th 1764. A drawing at the bottom of the page depicts a large group of people including a small child gathered around a commanding figure, presumably Christ, gesturing with his right hand. These figures may reference figures from Jean Jouvenet's The Resurrection of Lazarus, one of the paintings that Greene’s journal mentions he and Romney saw in the church of Saint Martin-des-Champs in Paris on September 22nd. Confiscated from this former church during the Revolution, this painting is now in the Louvre (Inv. No. 5489). While in Paris, Romney could have purchased an engraving of this painting by Jean Audran and thus have had it available in later years in London. Another group of figures from this painting is referenced in drawings in Courtauld Sketchbook No. 1, which dates from c. 1770 (e.g. 11 and 26).
The most detailed drawing on this page is a study of a young woman with pouty lips and nearly closed eyes. It conveys something of the seductive insouciance of females depicted by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. If Romney did, in fact, have this sketchbook with him in Paris, this drawing may reflect a work he saw there by Greuze. Conversely, it could register the influence of a print after Greuze, in which case it could have been done some years after the 1764 visit. The figure's hairstyle, with its soft curls framing the face and the characteristic headband, signal the influence of Greuze. Also, Greuze favored an oval format in many of his paintings of seductive females, and an oval is suggested here by the background shading describing a curve at the right side of the drawing. In addition, the figure's low-cut dress and the partial exposure of the right breast (emphasized by delicate shading) further locate this image within Greuze's manner.
The drawing within the lunette is connected to other drawings depicting Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see particularly 84, 85, 87, and 88). As in 85, a standing putto raises the mirror. Also as in 85, the identification of the subject is clouded by the fact that ‘Rinaldo’ is a winsome figure clothed in long draperies, thus giving the impression of being female.
Page 87
Three drawings for Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden appear in landscape orientation, two within a lunette format. One of the drawings includes putti to the right. (Refer also to 84, 85, 86, and 88).
Page 88
Two drawings in landscape orientation depict Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden. One of these is set within a faintly indicated lunette. A standing figure in a gown with a large sash tied at the back appears sideways at upper left. Upside down at the top of the page is a drawing of a pair of striding females similar to those in 77, studies for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality.
A tiny thumbnail portrait study at bottom right depicts a seated woman and standing infant. Four less detailed drawings, variants of this subject, are arrayed around the thumbnail.
Page 89
Four drawings, filling most of the page, relate to Rinaldo and Armida in Armida’s enchanted Garden (see 22). At the top of the page, upside down at the left, is a faint sketch of two standing figures very similar to those in a portrait composition in 72. To the right of that drawing, also upside down, is an extremely faint composition depicting a standing figure along with a seated one. Compare this to a very similar drawing in 52. Both of these compositions may have some relation to ideas Romney was working on for his painting of Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, in that they focus on two females. However, they have nothing to do with the painting as eventually realized. As with most such studies in the sketchbook, the figures are shown full length, rather than half-length as in the painting.
Page 90
Upside down at the top of the page are two drawings of a seated female. The figure shares the contrapposto of the seated figures in 16, 19, 39 and 79, but in these drawings the left arm extends outwards. A very faint sketch of a seated figure, viewed from behind and leaning backwards, appears between these drawings. Beneath these drawings, also upside down, is a landscape drawing in black chalk. Very reductive in its form, it depicts heavily shaded trees silhouetted against a more lightly sketched sky and clouds.
Page 91
A strike through of the black chalk landscape on the facing page is present here. This page has six studies of standing females. Five depict a single figure, in one instance resting her right elbow on an urn, an allusion to mortality. The sixth drawing, which includes a second female, bears some similarity, in reverse, to a pair of females in 23, presumably the first instance in the sketchbook of a drawing related to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Additional similar drawings are seen in 73 and 77. Here, the figures are shown half rather than full-length.
Page 92
At the left, a figure in a long gown presides at an altar from which smoke rises. This is the only such image in the sketchbook. Unless Romney is creating a startling fusion of subject matter, this should be regarded as a discrete subject, unrelated to the group on the same plane at the right, which depicts several figures standing behind a woman with bowed head. This group can be compared with figures in 31. If connected to the figures in 31 instead of to the figure at the altar, the subject would be The Accusation of Susannah (see also 25 and 99). Romney dealt with this subject in a number of drawings in other sketchbooks, among them Courtauld Sketchbook No. l, datable to around 1770 (e.g. 1v, 2, 24v, 25v, 26, 30v, 34v, 35v, 36, 36v, 38v and 40v). He also made drawings and at least one painting on The Accusation of Susannah after his return from Italy.
Page 93
Upside down on the page is a large composition drawing for Rinaldo abandoning Armida. This is a rare example in this sketchbook of the artist using an entire page for one drawing. The muscular anatomy of the male figures is rendered more clearly here than in other drawings on the subject (see 6, 20, 23, 24, 28, 34, 75, 80, and 81).
Page 94
On the top half of the page is a large, though faint, drawing of a standing woman. Two locks of the woman's fashionable upswept hairdo are accented by dark shading. The woman’s outspread arms with upturned palms, an unusually active gesture, make it difficult to regard this as a portrait study. Superimposed on this drawing is a ghost image of the standing woman appearing in 95. A man's eyes, nose, and prominent mouth appear in a very small drawing at upper right. The blank eyes, fleshy nose, and stern, full mouth suggest this was studied from a classical cast or print. A rather faint, but extremely sensitive and graceful study of a hand issuing from a frilly cuff, appears at mid-page (compare this to other drawings of hands in 1 and 27). Convincing renderings of hands were essential to a portrait painter's craft.
Page 95
A large profile drawing of a standing woman occupies the center of the page. Another slight sketch of this woman is below at left. This figure's straight, thin nose and parted lips, recall the female figure in 31 and her pose has similarities to the standing woman in a group of figures in 92, all of which may relate this drawing to The Accusation of Susannah. At the left are three drawings of a seated figure with its right hand on its forehead. The drawings are difficult to decipher, but the one in the center allows us to discern that a second figure leans against the first, draping its left arm over that figure's
knees. Very faint ghost images of two ink drawings in 96 can be discerned on this page.
Page 96
Two brown ink drawings of landscape fragments come as a surprise. The first landscape, sideways at top left, consists of craggy rocks and mountains. The second, at lower right, depicts a round-arched bridge behind which is the oversized base of an architectural feature supporting a strange column-like form attached to a fragmentary wall with a small window. The road across the bridge appears to dead-end at a craggy form at the right. Fields, buildings, and a mountain are in the distance. These drawings were no doubt inspired by Italianate landscapes, and the crosshatching methods employed indicate a print source. (See a much different landscape with an arched bridge in 29.)
In landscape orientation at the left is a graphite composition drawing of The Warren Family. Though less detailed than the study in 82, to which it is similar, it comes even closer to mirroring the composition of the final painting in that Lady Warren's right arm is extended downward rather than crossed over her lap. It would be fitting if the sketch that most closely presents the compositional arrangement of the painting were the last one of the series of preliminary studies in the sketchbook. However, it needs to be considered whether or not a difficult-to-read sketch on page 99 should also be regarded as a study for The Warren Family.
Page 97A small graphite drawing depicts a half-length female, right arm bent at the waist. The figure's left arm extends downward, its index finger touching what appears to be a skull. The presence of a skull obviously suggests a vanitas theme. In paintings of Mary Magdalene, the saint is often shown contemplating a skull. At a much later period Romney painted Emma Hamilton as a Magdalene. This image stands alone in the sketchbook although it reinforces the fact that Romney and many of his colleagues shared a fascination during this period with themes of melancholy and mortality, an interest that provided the basis for the artist's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (1767) and Melancholy (1770).
To the right, sideways on the page, is a pen and brown ink drawing of a round tower with a complicated profile, widening as it descends. Beside it are juxtaposed two similarly-complicated architectural forms. This is not a unified drawing but, rather, a study of separate fragments, an architectural fantasy of brobdingnagian proportions.
Page 98Only one drawing on this page is right side up. The others are in landscape orientation or upside down. Two portrait studies marked off within rectangles depict a woman with arms resting on a stone ball or urn (see an analogous figure in 7). Two drawings of young women, one wearing a lacy cap, may be portrait studies or ideas for genre paintings. A faint facial study is set down between these two. Two drawings of standing females reflect casual observation of gesture and movement as seen earlier as in 13. Less marked in this regard is a third standing figure to the right of these.
At top left, upside down, a figural grouping shows a figure leaning against a chair. A small child standing on a table reaches towards this figure; two additional figures stand behind. The liveliness and complicated arrangement of this scene suggest a group portrait in the manner of a conversation piece. This is the only drawing in the sketchbook to depict this particular group. To the right of this is a drawing of a standing male nude, hands clasped
and head bowed.
Page 99Upside down at the top of the page is a vague sketch, probably a portrait study. The two figures at the right are close in pose to those of Lady Warren and her daughter in 82. A curved line in the background may suggest the Colosseum, as seen in the painting. It is difficult to discern whether or not lines at the left in the composition are intended to describe a standing figure; if so, this would be Sir George Warren. If this sketch is indeed meant to be a study for The Warren Family, it revisits the compositional solution arrived at in 96, which mirrors that of the finished painting.
Five drawings of female nudes, two marked off within rectangles, fill much of the page. Most likely depicting Venus, two of the drawings include putti. One of the drawings appears to include a second figure standing behind the seated nude.
Two powerful drawings depict the same two old men in long robes seen in 31. These are presumably Susannah's accusers from The Accusation of Susannah (see also 25, 31, and 92). The emphatic hand gesture of one of the men is rendered with impressive economy. (The two men can be compared to those on the subject in Courtauld Sketchbook No. l, in particular 40v.)
Page 100All the drawings on this page are upside down. Seated females are depicted in five sketches near the top of the page. In two of these, the figures play stringed instruments (compare with 40, 64, and 103). In another of the drawings, a woman rests an arm on a table that supports an oval object (perhaps an urn). The next row of images includes a detailed study after some version of Venus and Adonis (see also 16). Here, instead of being shown from the back sitting on her couch, Venus rises up to grasp Adonis around the waist. This is a free interpretation of the subject as canonically painted by Titian. Next to this is a half-length of a woman wearing a dark cloak over her gown, posed against a landscape. The index finger of her extended left arm points downward, evocative of a similar detail in Romney's Elizabeth, Lady Blunt (see note on 24).
Two pairs of standing females at mid-page may relate to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see note on 23). Another petite drawing depicts a striding woman clad in tiny high-heeled shoes, a full skirt, and a fashionable hat worn at a tilt. A drawing at bottom left
depicts a seated couple with a slight similarity to figures in 48, though in this instance minus distaff and flute. A final portrait study at bottom right depicts a woman sitting at a harpsichord. She is accompanied by a standing figure that has been crossed through with repeated lines.
Page 101At the bottom of the page are two seated female nudes right arms raised to the head. At mid-page, upside down, is a bold, but clumsy, drawing of a seated figure, left arm raised. Scattered on the page are four figure studies of seated and standing women, which appear to be variants of one another. In one of the drawings, upside down at top right, the woman holds a parasol. In some of his studies for Sisters Contemplating on Mortality, originating in sketchbooks now disassembled, Romney used a parasol as a prop, although there is otherwise nothing to suggest that this drawing is related to that subject. Upside down below the middle of the page is a delicate outline drawing of a woman's face and neck, somewhat similar in expression to the woman depicted in 31, though this drawing lacks the detail and finesse of that example. Behind this image, dark lines are superimposed on the forehead of an awkwardly drawn profile.
Page 102All the drawings on the page are upside down. The most impressive is a portrait study of a statuesque female in a pose that echoes, in reverse, that of Mrs. Henry Verelst, a full-length portrait dating from c.1771. The statuesque pose is emphasized by the device of having the figure descend a flight of stairs, placing the viewer in an inferior position, thus magnifying the grandeur of the personage depicted. The flowing drapery, highlighted and flattened against the figure's right thigh to stress the sculptural weight of the figure, further increases its palpability and, in this, goes far beyond the single figure thumbnail portrait studies earlier in the sketchbook. This drawing, with its sculptural quality differs greatly from roughly contemporaneous drawings for Melancholy, seen in 14. As much as anything, the stylistic divergence results from the difference in media: graphite vs. pen and ink. Nonetheless, this drawing is a throwback to a drawing style more prevalent a few years earlier. If it is, as it seems, a study for the Verelst portrait, this tiny drawing can establish the end date for the active use of the sketchbook as 1771. Two drawings, one very faint, depicting pairs of females may be related to Romney's Sisters Contemplating on Mortality (see 23). Two additional very slight sketches on the page are difficult to read.
Page 103All drawings on this page are upside down. Seven drawings, a number of them difficult to decipher, employ the medium of red chalk. One is a thumbnail portrait study depicting a half-length standing female against a shaded background. This may be a record of Romney’s portrait of Mrs. Mary Hunt, c. 1769. The others depict standing and seated females. In two of the drawings the figure plays a stringed instrument (see also 40, 64, and 100). One drawing of two females in black chalk is perhaps related to Romney's painting of Two Sisters Contemplating on Mortality. Black chalk squiggles appear at the bottom of the page.
Page 104All the drawings here are upside down. On the lower half of the page is a large black chalk drawing of the head of Chrysippus, the Greek Stoic philosopher (see note on 1). The source of light, striking from the front, is taken into account, plunging the back of the head into darkness and creating a pool of dark shadow behind. Graduated shading fills the background. As to why the two drawings of the philosopher are so widely spaced in the sketchbook, it may simply have been easier to prop open the end pages of the sketchbook in making such detailed drawings in the Duke of Richmond's gallery of casts. Romney must have made both drawings at the same time. One of the seated figures in the portrait study at top right is very similar to the seated figure in a portrait study in 52. This may be yet another early idea for the Two Sisters double portrait. Two very slight additional sketches of standing figures are difficult to make out.
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LIVERPOOL SKETCHBOOK
Location: Walker Art Gallery Liverpool. Inventory Number WAG 10850.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the characteristic sale label is present but torn and the sense of the visible digits is unclear); bought by Leggatt; J. P. Heseltine; ... Lord Nathan of Churt; Sotheby 14 November 1962 (52); bought by Jeremy Maas; from whom bought in December 1962 by Liverpool City Libraries; bought from them in 1992 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink sketches on cream paper; 12 x 18.5 cm; 81 pages, numbered 1 recto to 81 verso; numerous pages removed; watermark of crown, shield and VG monogram; calfskin binding. Partially photographed.
The contents of the present sketchbook partially overlap with those of the Victoria & Albert Museum and Fitzwilliam No. 1 sketchbooks, though it is not clear whether they were used concurrently or consecutively. This sketchbook, which contains no studies for the portrait Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, completed at the end of 1776, was presumably started after the V & A sketchbook (which does). To judge by the notes and lists of sitters which occupy the pages at either end of the volume, Romney began using it in the summer of 1777. One list of ‘the people that have called during my sickness’, which includes Lady Gordon and General Smith ‘to know if Lady Craven pictr was to be copied’, also contains the memorandum ‘Collect things for my Brother and call at Mr Smiths at Islington’. A separate list of portraits with payments (it is unclear whether they are still owing or recently paid) refers to such well-known works as the two Ramus portraits and Mrs Birch, as well as an elusive 'Mrs Charters and Child 78-10', perhaps something to do with The Charteris Children. The Mrs Birch is the only identifiable portrait studied in the sketchbook (page 54r), but there are a number of further scattered studies for female full-lengths. One bears a considerable resemblance to the later Mrs Maxwell (painted in 1780) which raises the question of whether the sketchbook could still have been in use at that date. Candidates for the others include the Lady Monson of 1778, for which Romney prepared unusually intensively, and who is posed against a plinth in a way reminiscent of a number of the sketches in this book, and the now cut-down Lady Catherine Vernon as Hebe of 1777.
In a different category are a scattered group of pencil sketches of an expressive male head, apparently a soldier, and perhaps, from a vague anticipation of Romney's later treatment of the head of John Henderson in the role, intended for Macbeth. Loose drawings in the Fitzwilliam Museum and elsewhere attest that Romney was studying the first meeting of Macbeth and Banquo with the three witches shortly after his return from Italy, and similar studies for this figure occur in Fitzwilliam No.1.
The bulk of the sketches in the volume, however, are connected with the subjects treated in the Liverpool cartoons. They may be divided into two categories: those which essentially repeat, with only minor variation, the design of the cartoon; and those where the composition is significantly different. The former group includes most of the Cupid and Psyche series, Atossa's Dream, The Death of Sigismunda (formerly known as The Death of Cordelia) and Nature Unveiling Herself to the Infant Shakespeare. In the latter category are Medea and Prometheus studies (the latter, on pp.
55v-56, is a tentative identification for an indistinct design comprising a colossal male figure being restrained by two smaller, puny ones). It is hard to generalize about the precise relationship of these drawings to the cartoons. If Hayley's and John Romney's combined account of the gestation of the Cupid and Psyche cartoons is correct, and if the Death of Sigismunda cartoon precedes even them, as on stylistic and circumstantial evidence it seems to, then the related drawings in this sketchbook appear to postdate them, and may represent Romney's attempts to work them up into paintings. The marked concentration of studies for the figure of the kneeling Psyche, and the type of variation between them, strongly recall the series of studies for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, and perhaps reflect Romney rehearsing an awkward-to-manage pose so that he can later paint it vigorously and spontaneously.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No. R.E 27895.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk and red pencil on paper; 28.5 x 20 cm; 33 leaves containing 31 drawings; white parchment binding, enclosed in a parchment case.
This sketchbook, which Romney used on his trip to Italy, 1773-75, has the fewest drawings of any of the Louvre sketchbooks. A slight sketch of an architectural plan is the first drawing in the volume. Following drawings reflect Romney's studies in Italy and show classical and Renaissance influences. A study of a seated classical male nude (2) is followed by two drawings of the profile head of a bearded old man, probably Jupiter, rendered with careful hatching strokes (6v, 7v). Related drawings are 16v and 18v. Two large studies of heads with wide open bow-shaped mouths (8v), remind us of Romney's continuing interest in rendering extreme emotion in facial expressions, evident also in other sketchbooks (e.g. Yale No.7).
No. 21v depicts a kneeling warrior in Roman armor. No. 22v depicts a classical figure in a short tunic picking grapes while no 23v shows two women with baskets of grapes on their heads. One spare line drawing (24v; illustrated in Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques francaises, exhibition catalogue, Musée du Louvre Paris (1994), p. 266), rendered with great economy of means while at the same time managing to be extremely precise in reproducing poses and figural relationships, copies two figures to the extreme left of The Coronation of Charlemagne by Raphael and followers in the Vatican Stanze. No. 25v studies the head of one of these same figures. Other drawings in the sketchbook may reflect less exact borrowings from Raphael. No. 26v depicts a heavily draped and veiled woman holding her right hand over the head of a kneeling female: perhaps the Virgin and a donor; no. 27v studies the same veiled figure.
Nos. 29v, 30, and 32 show figures related to those in The Accusation of Susannah. Raphaelesque in type, the group of women and children in these drawings resonates influence from a group of figures to the left in Raphael's Expulsion of Heliodorus in the Stanze. Though no painting of The Accusation of Susannah was ever finished, it was a subject which Romney treated in a number of sketchbooks and large scale drawings from the late 1760s until 1777.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No. R.F. 27896.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk, graphite, and brown ink on paper; 20.5 x 28 cm; 79 drawings on 48 leaves, recto and verso; white parchment binding enclosed in a parchment case.
This is another Italian sketchbook. Six of the drawings in it are illustrated in Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques francaises, exhibition catalogue, Musée du Louvre Paris (1994), pp. 266-273. One of these (48v) is identified as Venus and Adonis though it is perhaps more likely to be a variant of Cupid and Psyche. Nude male and female couples appear in relation to various subjects in Romney's art at this time and, with characteristic fluidity, he moves from one to another, merging elements of the compositions.
One of the most powerful drawings in the sketchbook presents two studies of a seated hag with flowing, snake-like hair, deep-set eyes and wide open mouth (10). The attack of dark chalk on the page is without hesitation, and the boldness of the technique matches the level of the emotion conveyed by the figure's gesticulating pose and pronounced facial expression. The stylized expression gives evidence of the artist's concern with physiognomy. Such studies of expression are echoed in other Italian sketchbooks (e.g. Yale No.7 and Louvre No.1), underlining the fact that Romney's study of expression began early. Lapland witches, which this hag resembles, were the subject of a black chalk cartoon made soon after Romney's return from Italy in 1775; those witches merged in the ’80s and ’90s with the witches from Macbeth.
Two drawings probably representing The Judgment of Paris (11v, 12), while very similar in figural groupings and poses, are subtly different in emphasis. In the former, the three goddesses are joined together through repetition of the sinuous s-curves running through their draped bodies, while the seated Paris is nearly indecipherable. In the following sketch (12) the goddesses are described with less emphasis while Paris has become more legible. There are further variants of this composition (15, 16, 16v, 17).
One drawing (19) may present a variant of the Lear Awakening theme, also found in Louvre No.3. No. 20 depicts Jupiter with his foot on an orb. This reprises a subject in Louvre No.1 (16v), providing an example of the artist's random, sometimes unexpected return to themes represented in other sketchbooks he worked on at the same time. Another classical subject represented is Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl (3, 4v, 5, 6, 6v, 7, 7v, 8, 21v, 22, 22v, 23, 23v); yet another (24v-29v) may be Hector taking leave of his Father.
A drawing depicting a helmeted man struggling with a woman holding a dagger (45) is reminiscent of studies in Barrow No.1 (63, 69, 77). Others may relate to the Fall of Troy (45v, 46v). A number of the remainder of the drawings in the sketchbook are tantalizing in terms of subject identification. Classical themes are implied, but exact identification is difficult. One composition suggests a sibyl or a sorcery scene (30v, 31).
Many drawings in this sketchbook repeat the same basic composition a number of times, with a continual evolution in terms of concentration on specific elements.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No.
R.F. 27897.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk, graphite, pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink over traces of
graphite on paper; 21 x 28.5 cm; 74 leaves with drawings and notations on both recto and verso, containing a total of 100 drawings and notations in all (some sheets blank); pages were removed between 37-38 and 47-48 before numbers were added at upper right; white parchment binding; enclosed in a parchment case.
The first drawings in the sketchbook, which was in use about 1773-77, are Italian landscapes done before the motif (2, 3, 4, and 5), They are similar in character to those in Barrow No.3. These topographical landscapes convey the charm which the Italian countryside held for the artist. Landscape forms a minor genre among subjects in Romney's drawings though landscape drawings do appear selectively in sketchbooks throughout his career. Landscapes also often appear as backgrounds in subject drawings (17). Dramatic landscapes with strongly contrasting tones achieved through the use of brush and brown wash over graphite (16, 22, 28v) are very different in character from the drawings at the beginning of the volume: here imagination trumps observation; the landscape is charged with feeling, poised to function as a setting for a dramatic subject composition. Such imaginary landscapes, turbulent in mood, were used forcefully by the artist in Lapland Witch drawings upon his return from Italy, and appear throughout his career.
Romney's interest in improving his skill in rendering human anatomy is manifest in pen and brown ink drawings of an écorché leg (5v and 6). Drawings of écorché figures are common in the artist's sketchbooks both before and during his stay in Italy (see Royal Academy No. 2, Barrow Nos. 2 and 3, Yale No.7, and Truro No. 1 sketchbooks).
The sketchbook contains a number of portrait studies (e.g. 7v, 13, 14), and some notable individual figure studies of particular appeal, including an elegant, though slight, pen and ink sketch of a woman viewed from the back (37) and a page with seven heads, including four mature males, a youth, and two females including a carefully detailed female profile (37v). Overall, however, the major focus of this sketchbook is on ideas for subject compositions. Some of these were treated subsequently in other sketchbooks and large scale drawings, for example, Thetis and Achilles (23, 56v, 64v (left), 71 v, 73v, 74); Lear Awakening (35v, 36v, 41v, 43, 43v, 44v, 45, 45v, 48, 48v, 49v); and, possibly, Lear in the Tempest (32v, 47v). Other themes which can be identified are Charity (17), Hector and Andromache (42v), Charon in his boat (22v), and a sacrificial scene with a bull (72, 72v lower right). Other themes which are extensively treated here in fine pen and brown ink sketches are obscure. In a number of cases, one idea flows into another as compositions evolve before one's eyes, with the poses of individual figures and the number of figures changing from one drawing to the next. The artist as choreographer maneuvers his cast through different scenes of a play that is continually rewritten. Soldiers in antique armor along with other figures appear in some of the compositions (51v, 52, 52v, 53, 53v, 54v, 55). In others a man appears to be anointing a standing woman (40v, 59v, 60v); in one crowd scene a smoking altar appears (46v, 65v). Figural groupings in some drawings will surface again some years later in other subject compositions, e.g. 65v, showing a man and a woman in a pose adopted for Tempest drawings in the mid-1780s.
The list of Romney's purchases on 74v reminds us that he was an inveterate collector – in this instance of ‘festoons... old coins ... a medal of Leopold ... 1 Milanese old Crown ... [and] sundry small pieces.’
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Graphiques. Inventory No.
R.F. 27898.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no. 40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit, by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk and pen and brown ink on paper; 22.5 x 37 cm; watermark of crown insignia with bell at bottom, and below: J HONIC/&/ZOONEN; forty-six drawings in all; white parchment binding; enclosed in a parchment case.
This volume contains copies of classical sculptures, and some drawings may be free copies from Renaissance sources. Most of the drawings, however, comprise ideas for Romney's own compositions. Variants of certain of these compositions appear in other sketchbooks and large-scale drawings. Some echo drawings in other of the Louvre sketchbooks. For example, compare no. 11 with R.F. 27895.30 and no. 39v with R.F. 27895.26v.
In Olivier Meslay et al: D'Outre-manche: l'art britannique dans les collections publiques
françaises, exhibition catalogue, Musee du Louvre Paris (1994), p. 264 the authenticity of this sketchbook was questioned by Jane Roberts. She believes it to contain copies and tracings from Romney's compositions made by another artist. This view may be conditioned by the fact that many drawings in the sketchbook are executed in a very simple, plain style, different from the free, rapid technique characteristic of many of Romney's drawings. However, Romney's stylistic and technical range can be extremely broad, and the reductive technique employed in many of the drawings in this sketchbook could be a result of Romney's desire to record simply and quickly particular visual ideas for future reference. Moreover, a number of drawings in other Italian sketchbooks, e.g. Barrow Nos. 2 and 3, are executed in a similar technique.
The first drawing in the sketchbook (3) comprises two copies of antique reliefs. The first, inscribed in a roundel, depicts figures grouped around a central column, the figure to the extreme left crowning the next with laurel. The second is a study of a sacrificial relief, which includes a kneeling figure pouring wine from a wine sack and a figure in a helmet slitting a ram's throat. Another study from the antique (4) depicts Olympia seated on rocks, two standing figures to her left; to the right is an unrelated study of a maenad with clappers. Some of the drawings parallel subjects the artist was known to have been concerned with at this period, studies for which appear in other sketchbooks. No. l0v, for example, depicts a child with an open book standing beside a seated woman; this is similar to a drawing in Yale No.7. A seated figure in no. 11 relates to a figure in Romney's composition of The Accusation of Susannah. There are also studies of Cupid and Psyche, legs entwined (12v, 24v). No. 14v relates to The Destruction of Niobe's Children. Several drawings appear to relate to Medea and her Children (17v, 40v, 41v); and there is a variant of Jupiter and Thetis (45v).
One of the most curious drawings in the volume (23) is a detailed version of The Death of Sigismunda (formerly known as The Death of Cordelia), the subject of one of the Liverpool cartoons. All the elements of the cartoon are found here: The number of figures is the same, shown in similar figural relationships as in the cartoon; even the vase on a plinth at the center of the composition is included though here it is much larger than in the cartoon. However, poses of individual figures differ in certain specific ways from those in the Liverpool cartoon, e.g.: 1) the standing figure to the extreme left drapes her right arm over the back of the figure in front of her; 2) Sigismunda faces the viewer, her head resting on her right arm, bent at the elbow; 3) the woman at the head of the bier drapes her left arm over Sigismunda 4) the right arm of the old man at the foot of the bier lies flat on the support, his left arm crossing it 5) there is a distinct arch in the background right. These alternative details mean that the drawing in the Louvre sketchbook is a developmental study for the composition rather than a copy by another hand after the finished cartoon. It is nonetheless curious – and atypical of Romney – that the drawing stands alone in the sketchbook, with no related drawings exploring compositional variants. Yet the presence in an Italian sketchbook of this drawing – which must be taken as authentic – reinforces the suggestion (Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002), p.119) that The Death of Sigismunda is the earliest of the Liverpool cartoons and that it was done in Rome.
While the drawing for The Death of Sigismunda stands alone, other drawings in the sketchbook show a sequencing (e.g. 40v, 41v) which points to the artist's engagement in the working out of an idea. This does not reflect the method and purpose of a copyist. Furthermore, close analysis of specific motifs points to authenticity of the sketchbook. Certain signature methods for rendering details – an artist's handwriting, so to speak – cannot be duplicated by a copyist.
Among comparisons which can be cited between drawings in this sketchbook and undisputed drawings: the profiles, straight from forehead to nose tip, seen in nos. 15 and 19v are identical to those seen in nos. 71 and 113 in Barrow No.3; the tousle-haired child with its index finger touching its chin in no. 30v is very close in facial type to the child in drawings in the Fitzwilliam Museum (BV 1, 2); the kneeling woman with children seen in no.26 parallels (in reverse) a group in studies for The Accusation of Susannah (e.g. Princeton 1948.1643); the group with a kneeling male in no. 28 parallels a similar group in no. 69 in Barrow No.3 and the standing woman with the index finger of her right hand touching her face in no. 38 parallels a similar figure in no. 30 in Barrow No.3.
Perhaps future close analysis of the sketchbook's paper and its watermark can establish whether or not this particular paper would have been available to Romney in Rome. In the meantime, however, on the basis of considerations of subject matter, style, and technique enumerated above, this sketchbook should be accepted as authentic.
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LOUVRE SKETCHBOOK NO.5
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, Departement des Arts Grapbiques. Inventory no. R.E 27899.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (lot no.40L (addenda)); bought by Humphry Ward; ... bought by Xavier Haas; ... Jean-Albert Schmit; by whom given in 1935 to the present owner.
Description: Black chalk on paper; 45.5 x 29.5 cm; 31 leaves numbered on recto, with a total of 33 pages of drawings and notations (23 drawings on the recto; ten on the verso); watermark of crown and fleur-de-lis; white parchment binding, enclosed in a parchment case.
The majority of drawings in this sketchbook, which dates from around 1776-77, are portrait studies of women. These include 4v, 5, 6, 6v, 7, 8, 8v, 9, 10, 11, 11v, 12, 12v-13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22v, 23, 23v, 24, 24v, 25. Both seated and standing figures are shown in a variety of poses. Some drawings bear comparison with examples in the Liverpool sketchbook, which Romney was also using in 1777. A study in the Liverpool volume (75v) shows a standing figure with the same high hair style as in no.16 though in the former the sitter wears contemporary dress while in the latter the circled breasts and clinging draperies suggest a more classical inspiration in the costume, reflecting the artist's study of antique sculpture in Italy. In both sketchbooks similar alternate types of costume solutions are employed.
In addition to portrait studies, this sketchbook contains several subject compositions. The first drawing in the volume (3v) shows figures kneeling and standing on either side of an altar with a vase on it; a crowd scene is to the right. In no. 22, within a landscape, a female at the left kneels at the feet of a second figure. This might relate to Psyche Supplicating Juno, studies for which are found in the Liverpool sketchbook. No. 30 is an indistinct landscape; 31v is similar and has the suggestion of a shipwreck at the right.
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MELBOURNE SKETCHBOOK
Location: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Inventory No. 669-5.
Provenance: ... Sir Bruce Ingram; from whom bought in 1960 through the Felton Bequest by the present owner.
Description: Sepia ink on cream laid paper; 19.5 x 15.5 cm; 69 pages, numbered 1 recto to 69 verso; Britannia watermark; vellum binding. Partially photographed.
The contents of this sketchbook have been extensively discussed in two articles, Joseph Burke’s ‘Romney's ‘Leigh Family’ (1768): A Link between the Conversation Piece and the neo-classical Portrait Group’ Annual Bulletin of the National Gallery of Victoria vol. ii (1960) and Jennifer Jones-O'Neill’s ‘George Romney's Sketchbook in the National Gallery of Victoria: The Development of a new expressive Vocabulary' Art Bulletin of Victoria vol. 39 (1998). The first article concerned itself only with eleven sketches in the sketchbook relating to The Leigh Family (itself at Melbourne); the purpose of the second was to study some of the remaining contents of the sketchbook and relate them to contemporary artistic practice. This article was less concerned to identify subject-matter – only one new subject was proposed, Sterne's Maria for the drawing on page 35 – than to relate the expressive character of Romney's figure studies to the traditional depiction of melancholic themes. The author follows the lead of Anne Crookshank and Pat Jaffé in the case of other early sketchbooks (see Royal Academy No.1) in arguing that Romney must have used this sketchbook both before and after his visit to Italy. This is a view which is not borne out by the subject matter or by stylistic considerations. Given that it contains an extended sequence of studies for The Leigh Family, the sketchbook was in use by the beginning of 1768, and it can therefore be identified as one of the first books Romney moved on to as the Kendal Town Hall sketchbook began to be filled up. It would be very surprising if it had still been in use in 1775. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to wonder just how long Romney did use it for.
Apart from the studies for The Leigh Family, the only known works for which studies can certainly be identified are The Warren Family of 1769 (p. 16) and Thomas Rackett (probably 1768; p. 20v). These apart, there are a number of studies reminiscent of Melancholy (1770) (or possibly Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse); and one-off studies which resemble the so-called Mrs Collingwood at Liverpool, usually dated 1767 (p. 55v), and The Misses Cumberland, dateable to 1772 (p. 36). The latter identification in itself implies that the sketchbook was in use over six years, and may prove suspect. There are numerous other studies for a double portrait of two girls where the resemblance to The Misses Cumberland is less obvious, and another portrait of two girls altogether may be in question.
Studies for more historical subjects are scattered through the volume, but they are proportionally few in comparison, say, to the slightly later Barrow No 1.
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NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY SKETCHBOOK
Location: National Portrait Gallery, London. Archive Manuscript Collection 18-A-4.
Provenance: ... William Roberts; by descent; Christie’s 12 April 1994 (16); purchased by the present owner.
Description: Sepia ink manuscript; sketches chiefly in ink, some with wash, one page in graphite; cream laid paper; vellum binding; 20 x 16 cm; 67 leaves numbered 1 - 23, 23a and 24- 133; back endpaper numbered 134; some pages torn out; watermark of unidentified design in roundel surmounted by a crown; vellum binding.
This sketchbook is relatively familiar as it was published as long ago as 1932 (see William Roberts: ‘Some Early Romneys’ Connoisseur (June 1932). It is unusual in combining sketches with extensive drafts of letters and notes of patrons' outstanding accounts. Among the drafts is one addressed to the artist's father which is uniquely valuable in shedding light on the state of his relations with his wife at this time. Romney writes that he is ‘a little surprised that she should say she will come to London at such a time without even consulting me whether it is a proper season or whether it suits me or not. When it suits me I shall send for her and if she come contrary to my approbation she will have reason to regret it as it certainly will be at this time.’
Other drafts are for letters to patrons whose commissions he was finishing, including Sir Francis Vincent, William Lindow, Lord Arundell of Wardour and Miss Joan Knatchbull. A draft account for the latter is dated 14 October 1772 and Romney's accompanying letter to her mentions, as do those to other patrons, that it is his intention to go to Italy in three weeks. This is probably the sketchbook Romney was using immediately before his departure, which would explain why the content is a mixture of art and business.
The entry in Christie's sale catalogue raises the question of how long previously Romney might have begun to use the volume, noting that John Romney's description of certain sketches for The Leigh Family correspond to ones in this volume. They do not, however, resemble any part of the finished painting and the link appears tenuous. There is also the draft of a letter to Lady Warren, whose portrait with her husband and stepdaughter Romney had painted in 1769; however, this does not seem to relate directly to the commission and perhaps may be read as a thank you to Lady Warren for her efforts in securing long-overdue payment for the picture. (Romney's writing in this volume is even more illegible than usual.) The Christie's description notes that certain studies for a full-length female portrait (pp. 43-44, 53, 59-60) appear to be for Mrs Henry Verelst - currently thought to have been started in the second half of 1771 - but again the link is not clear-cut; and it might equally be suggested that they are for Lady Arundell of Wardour. A sketch for a female bust portrait in an oval format (p. 57) may be related to the Lady Melbourne of about 1771. Some sketches bear a distinct resemblance to the Mother and Child that Romney exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1771, but this was a theme that was occupying Romney generally, both in his portraiture and in projected historical works, and it would be premature to assume that these sketches relate to that particular picture. The one identifiable portrait for which studies do appear to be present is, appropriately, the National Portrait Gallery's own Richard Cumberland, half-length. If it is correct that Romney was working on this portrait when he left London for Italy, and completed it on his return, that may bear out the idea that this sketchbook was really only in use for a short time before his departure.
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1659; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: …Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on laid paper; 18 x 27 cm; two center leaves missing; a total of 34 drawings; watermark of J Whatman; paper binding.
Following a slight initial landscape drawing (1) the first sketches in this volume (lv, 2v, 3), in graphite, depict a child, attendants, and a goat, a composition which relates to The Infancy of Jupiter. Similar sketches on this theme (in pen and brown ink rather than graphite, as here) are found in the Houston sketchbook, which helps date the present volume to 1783. Additional drawings also echo those in the Houston sketchbook. For example, the crouching female in 3v and 4 may be studies of the same female in a Houston composition (37), which appears to depict the milkmaid whose goat upset her pail, referred to by John Romney. Cows included in this Houston composition evoke a study of a cow in the Princeton volume (10). The group of figures on horseback to the left of no. 5 echo those in Houston no. 17; and no. 20, which includes two studies of a figure on horseback, can be compared to the dynamic horseman in a Houston drawing (50).
In some instances, particular motifs migrate between sketchbooks. For example, a pastoral scene with figures lying down and playing the pipes (17), though different from compositions in the Houston sketchbook, nonetheless shares similar mountain peaks with Houston drawings (28, 53). Even particular classes of drawings, in some instances represented by only one drawing, are found in both these sketchbooks, e.g., a reclining female (Princeton 18; Houston 52); a male nude (Princeton 20v; Houston 12); profile head studies (Princeton 15v, 16; Houston 9). Thus, in subject categories as well as with specific subjects there are close similarities between the two sketchbooks. At the same time, each volume has drawings on discrete subjects: there is a paralleling of subjects yet also a divergence into new areas of concern.
Subjects in this sketchbook not repeated in the Houston volume include a striding helmeted figure (7, 8); this same figure kneeling (9); dancing figures in a wooded landscape (11); Lapland witches with a shipwreck (12); possibly the witches confronting Macbeth and Banquo on the heath (13, 13v); and a crowd of horsemen (19).
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1660; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: ... Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite drawings on wove paper; 14 x 23 cm; 18 pages, some loose; many pages removed; Princeton drawings 48-1651, 48-1652, and 48-1653 were extracted from this sketchbook; board binding.
A notation by Romney on p. 18v is of importance in dating this sketchbook: ‘Arno/John Burstall/Dated Leghorn 31 August 1792/Ten Cases/Sixty-eight Pounds/Sterling in all’. This refers to Flaxman's first shipment to Romney of classical casts from Italy. Flaxman wrote Romney from Rome September 12, 1792, ‘I have sent you ten large Cases of plaister Casts by the Ship Arno from Leghorn, John Burstall Master...’ (Osborn Collection (folder 13.13) Beinecke Library, Yale University). The notation corroborates Romney's receipt of the letter and verifies that he used the sketchbook in 1792. The date of 1792 accords with the subjects found in the sketchbook. There are studies (1, 6, 6v, 7, 7v, 8v, and 11) for the painting Milton and his Daughters, which Hayley noted that Romney began in the spring of 1792. The sketchbook contains studies of Titania and her fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream (1v (left), 2 (left), 2v, 3, 9) and of The Indian Woman (5). Several drawings are related to the theme of John Howard visiting a prison (1v (right), 2 (center), 3v, 9v, 10). Three additional drawings on the Howard theme which were originally part of this sketchbook have been extracted and mounted separately (48-1651, 48-1652, and 48-1653). Additional drawings in the sketchbook include four studies of a nude figure perched on a rock (13v); and three studies of a seated woman with a child (10v) which may be portrait studies. One anomalous drawing in the sketchbook (17v) gives the elevation of a house from different sides, with a list of the number of doors, windows, chimneys, etc. Architectural plans and elevations are not unusual in Romney's later sketchbooks; in 1796, the artist was to acquire land in Hampstead on which to build a house of his own design.
A list in Romney's hand on the back end paper gives the name of 21 clients (two crossed out) and amounts charged for portraits. Those which can be deciphered include Mr. Ed. Stephenson (84), Col. Lowther (40 guineas), Sir Beauchamp (60), Sir J. [H.?]Dashwood (40), Mr. Powis (70), Mr. Steele (80), Mrs. Annes1ey (200), Capt. Bentinck (25) and his Mother (25), Sir R. Harland [crossed out] (125), Mr. Pelham (25), Lord Thurlow (40), Mrs. Fitzherbert (25), Mr. Fazakerley (94-20), Miss Murray (31-10), Mr. Hon. Wallop (31- 10), and Mr. Gunning (26-5). Most of these individuals sat to Romney between 1786-1791. Some had paid Romney for paintings by 1792 (e.g. Col. Lowther paid
£66 on July 26, 1786), but most had not paid up in full by that time. Rather than a comprehensive list of sitters and amounts due, the list probably roughly gauges forthcoming payments the artist could count on.
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PRINCETON SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Inventory No. 48-1661; Dan Fellows Platt Collection.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Dan Fellows Platt; by whom bequeathed (with a lifetime interest to his wife) in 1938 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink on paper; 24.5 x 18.5 cm; 78 surviving pages; at least 8 pages removed; watermark of crown and fleur-de-lis with initials GR; vellum binding.
Of great interest in this sketchbook are several studies (33, 33v, 34 and 34v) which relate to Romney's only reported essay into sculpture. In 1784 William Hayley asked Romney to design a memorial to Hayley's friend John Thornton. As Hayley writes: Romney ‘kindly modelled a little figure of afflicted Friendship, in the form of a reclining female, to rest on a sepulchral vase.’ (William Hayley: The Life of George Romney Esq. (1809) p. 98). Romney modeled the figure in clay while staying with Hayley at Eartham and then took it to London to have it fired. This, however, he neglected to do, according to Hayley, and ultimately the sculpture fell to pieces. These drawings show us Romney's idea for this monument. Significantly, the figure of the woman sitting atop the urn recalls the Mourning Dacian, from a classical relief Romney had drawn while in Rome some ten years earlier (see Barrow No.3, No. 44). One of the Princeton drawings (34) includes a line drawing of a man's head and neck, perhaps suggesting that a profile of Thornton himself was to be incorporated into the monument. The drawings of the woman on the urn are in graphite, with careful modeling employed to give mass to the forms. No 35 brings an abrupt change in technique. Vividly rendered in pen and brown ink, it depicts a seated woman holding a book towards a woman standing in front of her.
Portrait studies include nos. 8, 16v, 17, 17v, 18, 18v, 19, 38, 49. Figures dancing in a ring appear in 9, 11 v, 12 and 14. Such groups are found in drawings throughout the artist's career from The Gower Children in the 1770s to witches from Macbeth and fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream in the l790s. No. 37 is a drawing, within an oval, which echoes Romney's Serena Reading, a painting completed prior to September 1782, when a mezzotint of it was published. This must have been made after the painting was completed. No. 73v is a rough sketch of The Birth of Shakespeare. Three drawings of female nudes round out the volume (72v, 73, and 74). The last of these drawings presents a supine nude bending backwards in a particularly voluptuous pose.
A male figure in armor carrying a sword (or a spear in some instances) is shown by himself or with a group of additional figures in a number of drawings (36v, 64v, 66v, 67, 68, 68v, 69v, 70, 70v, 71, 71v, 72). This could represent Macbeth confronting the witches on the heath; however, the subject, like a number of others appearing in Romney's sketchbooks in the early 1780s, resists easy interpretation. The same goes for the following compositions, which can be described but not easily identified: (1) a seated woman bending to the right with her arms reaching towards a child; surrounding figures include one holding sword (5v, 6, 6v, 10) (2) a group of figures bending over a prostrate figure (l4v, 15, 15v, 16, 22v, 23, 24). This composition evolves and changes in regard to number of figures and specific poses. For example, no. 14v includes a figure at the left with an arm outstretched as if commanding the reclining figure to rise.
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ROYAL ACADEMY SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Library of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Inventory No. RA 08/723.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.; the presumption that the sketchbook was included in the sale has been made from the presence inside the sketchbook of a loose page from the catalogue); ... method of acquisition by the present owner is uncertain; it seems likely that it was presented with 781B, below, but RA Council Minutes do not confirm this.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings, some with wash on cream laid paper; 19 x 15.5 cm; 72 leaves; used leaves numbered 1-117; unused leaves unnumbered; approximately 5 leaves removed at the back; vellum binding. Partially photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art. Former RA inventory number 781A.
Both from the style of the draughtsmanship and from the identifiable subject-matter, this sketchbook can be dated to 1770-71. There are at least four studies (pp. 27, 34-35, 78) for Mrs Yates as the Tragic Muse, shown at the Society of Artists in 1771, and at least one (p. 77) for the Mother and Child shown at the same exhibition. Other subjects represented which Romney is known to have contemplated around this date include Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies from Addison's Spectator (pp. 66-68) and The Accusation of Susannah (pp. 11, 18). The presence of these last led Pat (Jaffé) Milne- Henderson to conclude that this sketchbook was in use shortly after Romney returned from Rome; for John Romney reported that his father was working on this subject in January 1777. She also stated that the sketchbook included composition notations for The Clavering Children, painted by Romney in the summer of 1777. This appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
Other groups of studies whose subjects are not certain include two unusually highly finished drawings set in a prison, in which an incarcerated mother hands a tiny infant to a monk (pp. 15, 47) and a number which have formerly been identified as Paolo and Francesca, from Dante. The endpapers have brief notations referring to 'Mr. Williams of Wimpole St' and 'Mr. Smithson at Mr. Websters watchmaker in Change alley'; some evidence exists for a portrait of the latter (and one of his wife) but so far none has emerged for a portrait of Mr Williams.
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ROYAL ACADEMY SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Library of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Inventory No. RA 03/ 1321.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); …Coghlan Briscoe; by whom given in 1929 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink drawings, some with wash on cream laid paper; 18.5 x 15.5 cm; 46 pages, unnumbered; a number of pages removed; vellum binding. Former RA inventory number 781B.
It is tempting, but may be premature, to suppose that the two Royal Academy sketchbooks have always been together, and formed one lot at Miss Romney's sale. They are physically similar, and were obviously in use at the same time, although the overlap in subject matter is scant. This one was shown in the Royal Academy's exhibition Treasures of the Royal Academy in 1963 (catalogue no. 146) where it was noted that Anne Crookshank had dated it to 1772, but had stated it contained drawings made after Romney's return from Italy in 1775. This parallels Pat (Jaffé) Milne-Henderson's view of the other Royal Academy sketchbook. Crookshank specifically adduced the presence of drawings for Macbeth ‘connected to ones done after 1775’; but additionally, she may have had in mind the group of sketches for the portrait of Richard Cumberland in the National Portrait Gallery, which at that time would have been assumed to date from 1776. The sketches for the Cumberland portrait are close to those in the National Portrait Gallery sketchbook, and their appearance in this context offers strong circumstantial evidence that this portrait was at least begun, if not finished, before Romney went to Italy. Elsewhere in the sketchbook there is a group of studies for Sir Roger de Coverley and the Gypsies, including one or two featuring individual figures, rather than the composition as a whole; and there are three drawings of the écorché figure belonging to Dr. Hunter, a subject which also recurs in other sketchbooks in use at this time. The sketchbook opens with a sequence of studies for a pastoral subject plausibly identified in the Treasures of the Royal Academy catalogue as Daphnis and Chloe (the reclining male figure is holding a flute); and this is followed by a series depicting a group of figures around a dying man on a bier (perhaps The Death of King Lear). Finally there are several studies of a scene of an encounter between two women: one standing with attendants, one kneeling.
What give this sketchbook particular interest, however, are the annotations in Romney's hand at both ends of the sketchbook. On the first page is a list of names and sums of money, which must represent payments owing for recently completed portraits. At their head is Sir G W 63. 0 which undoubtedly relates to The Warren Family of 1769; but few of the names which follow are recognizable from any other source. This list is, therefore, a key document for the study of Romney's pre-Italian portraiture. Regrettably the handwriting is more than unusually difficult but among the few familiar names are Dr. Marton, whose portrait of around 1767 is in Lancaster City Museum, Mr. Hunt (perhaps Thomas Hunt of Mollington) and Allwood, which is likely to be a reference to the frame-maker. At the end of the list, upside down, is written ‘Mrs Marke Smithson’, who presumably relates to the 'Mr Smithson' in Change alley noted at the end of Royal Academy No. 1. At the other end of the present sketchbook Romney noted his brother Peter's address 'at Mr Postlethwaites in Park Lane Liverpole' and wrote out an account for Mr. Gregg at the 'Blackamore's Head', Cheapside, apparently for two pictures and one frame, totalling £22.14s; another transaction with an otherwise entirely unknown patron.
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STANFORD SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, CA. Inventory No. 1974.194; Committee for Art Fund.
Provenance: ... Alfred de Pass; Royal Institution of Cornwall; Christie’s 22 February 1966 (22); bought by Matthews; ... private collection; Thomas Agnew; from whom bought in 1974 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on heavy ivory laid paper; 17 x 25 cm; 14 studies on 44 leaves; watermark of J Whatman; board binding.
The sketchbook is dated May 1794 inside the front cover. Its fourteen studies consist of the following: four studies for A Shipwreck at the Cape of Good Hope; four for John Howard Visiting A Prison; four studies for The Birth of Man, the first of twelve subjects Romney intended painting on a cycle of 'The Ages of Man' (from Shakespeare's As You Like It); a single male figure, half-length, and a male figure in a landscape. It also contains the draft of Romney's letter to Hayley dated 27 May 1794 published in Hayley’s biography, p. 214.
The above information paraphrases Lorenz Eitner et al.: Stanford University Museum of Art: The Drawing Collection (1993) cat. 213, pp. 330-31, where it is observed that ‘the various subjects are repeated with slight variations but, characteristically, without any noticeable progress towards a compositional solution’.
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STANFORD SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Stanford University Museum of Art, Palo Alto, CA. Inventory No. 1976.134; Mortimer
C. Leventritt Fund.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Mrs W. Brown; ... Victor Chan; from whom bought in 1976 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite on heavy ivory laid paper; 18 x 25 cm: 25 studies on 40 leaves; board binding.
This sketchbook is not inscribed with a date but like its companion at Stanford was used in the mid-1790s. There are several late studies for John Howard Visiting a Prison which are probably again from around May 1794. A series of architectural studies (pp. 16, 24, 25, 34-39) are connected with Romney's ideas of acquiring a new property (anticipating his move to Hampstead, which did not gain momentum until 1796).
The identification of some of the other subjects remains conjectural. They appear to include The Fall of the Rebel Angels (pp. 1, 17) presumably related to Hayley's planned Life of Milton; a scene of Charity (pp. 15, 19, 21), similar to studies at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, and sketches for what appears to be the Rape of the Sabines.
The above paraphrases Lorenz Eitner et al.: Stanford University Museum of Art: The Drawing Collection (1993) cat. 214, p. 331.
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STOCKHOLM SKETCHBOOK
Location: Nationalmuseum Stockholm. Inventory Number NMH 109/1916.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (possibly lot 8, as this figure is written on the characteristic blue edged sale label inside the cover); ... acquired by Harald Bendixon in London, probably about 1915; by whom given to the present owner in 1916.
Description: Sepia ink, with only one instance of graphite (as an addition) on cream laid paper; 17 x 15 cm; 63 leaves, numbered from 1 to 126; some leaves removed; unidentified watermark; vellum binding.
This sketchbook was used in the early 1770s. The style of the drawing throughout is close to that in Barrow No. 1 and is especially homogenous, suggesting the sketchbook was in use over a short timespan, perhaps no more than a few months. This theory is underscored by the fact that only a few subjects are studied, but at length, and generally in blocks of pages. It is possible that each block represents a single session of work.
At the beginning (pp. 1-7) a group of studies for a half- length double portrait of man and wife could well be for Mr and Mrs William Lindow, painted in 1772 (Tate), although only the last sketch bears a distinct resemblance to the configuration of the painting itself. At the other end of the sketchbook is a sequence of studies for a portrait of two girls, apparently the Misses Cumberland in Boston. From the age of the girls, this too appears to be a work of no earlier than 1772. The question is whether Romney used the intervening pages consecutively, between studying for these works. Among their contents, there is a single sketch for the portrait of a standing boy which resembles Thomas Rackett, and a sequence of studies for a large group portrait containing six adult figures, which contains strong hints of The Leigh Family. It seems more likely that these are sketches for portraits, either never carried out or else now lost, that followed up on those earlier works. The group portrait studies are of great interest. The only other work of Romney's that they resemble is the later Beaumont Family in the Tate. Could he have originally received the commission for this work in 1772, before he went to Italy?
For the rest, there are major groups of studies for two mother and child subjects (which one might loosely relate to the Mother and Child exhibited in 1771); in one of these the mother is recumbent. Similar studies appear in other sketchbooks of the period. Another group is for a multi-figure historical scene: a male warrior, occasionally accompanied by other male figures, is taking leave of a scene of grieving females. The mother and child studies may well have been intended to be part of this same scene.
In terms of its familiarity from the literature, this is one of Romney’s least-known sketchbooks, although it was briefly referred to by John Hayes in his review of the Romney exhibition at Kenwood as long ago as 1961.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 1
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI: 1923.142.1.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Ink on cream laid paper; 20 x 16 cm; 59 pages, numbered from back to front 1-59 (also 1-118); vellum binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
On the inside cover is Romney's note of the cost of a violin and case, £3 - 13; and this is followed on page 1 by the draft of a letter to Mrs Hunt: Mrs Hunt's picture before it be well dryed the coloure is apt to turn verry yellow, my picture will turn yellow in a small degree but that will come off[f] if the picture be well dryed. If it should be the case with Mrs Hunts setting it in a strong light a day or two will bring it to its original clearness... The portrait concerned is Mrs Thomas Hunt (Lanhydrock House, National Trust) dateable on stylistic grounds to the late 1760s. The drawings in the present sketchbook are from the same period.
The first drawings in the sketchbook are studies for Melancholy, Romney's exhibition picture of 1770 based on Milton's poem Il Penseroso. The whole length figure is here, as in similar studies in Barrow No. 1, set in a Gothic church. Other studies for this figure, and for its companion Mirth, dominate the contents of the sketchbook. Also present are numerous sketches for another subject found in Barrow No. 1, in which a male figure clutches the waist of a swooning woman under a cliff or tree. In the present sketchbook, there are numerous variations on this, suggesting that Romney is more interested in the motif of the figures than in the subject being illustrated.
Other unidentified subjects include a whole-length male portrait (pp. 11, 12), a female nude at her mirror (identified in Courtauld files as Bathsheba, but more likely The Toilet of Venus) (pp. 29v, 30v), a man conversing with three girls under a tree (pp. 46v, 47v, 49v and 50) and a pastoral couple seated under a tree (pp 8-9). This last is perhaps Daphnis and Chloe, a subject which has been identified in the contemporary Royal Academy No.2. The appearance on pages 55v to 58v of studies of an écorché figure provides a further link with that sketchbook.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 2
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI:1923.142.2.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Chiefly graphite drawings, but some in ink and one in ink and wash on laid paper; 16 x 20 cm; 39 pages, numbered 1 - 78, many pages removed; watermark of shield with LVC monogram; leather binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
The best evidence for dating this sketchbook is a draft receipt on the last page: J. Martin/ Ten Pounds/ London the 14 Day of December 1781. However, at the other end of the volume, a long sequence of lists and instructions written by the artist to himself, clearly at several different times, and running over five pages, re- inforces the notion that Romney used this sketchbook over quite a long period. These notes, mixing household and business matters, give a colourful insight into the quality of Romney's daily life.
The most obviously recognizable subject in the body of the sketchbook is the study of a mother with her young child staring at its face in a mirror (p. 50; the drawing on p. 39 is perhaps related). This, together with three studies of the child looking at the mirror alone (pp. 44-46) must relate to the well-known Mrs Russell and her Son (private collection) for which sittings began in June 1784. The remainder of the sketchbook was probably in use before this, not only because these subjects occur towards the end (most of the leaves after p. 57 are unused), but also because the character of the remaining subjects echoes those of the Houston sketchbook, which is dated September 1783. Between pages 27 and 49 there are many studies for the equestrian portrait which recurs in the latter sketchbook, and also common to both are studies for The Infancy of Jupiter; here in the shape of drawings of a female, child or children and a goat. As in the Houston sketchbook, there are a number of atmospheric distant landscapes. The isolated drawing at the end of the volume of a classical building seen through a vista of trees (p. 76) has the feel of being slightly earlier in date, and may represent Romney's first use of the sketchbook.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK NO. 3
Location: Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro; Inventory No. TRURI: 1923.142.3.
Provenance: …Alfred De Pass; by whom given in 1923 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and ink drawings on laid paper; 12 x 18.5 cm; 58 pages, numbered both 1- 58 on the rectos and also 1-116; numerous pages removed; unidentified watermark; leather binding. Photographed by the Courtauld Institute of Art (where the volume was on long-term loan for many years in the late 20th century; see Appendix B).
This is one of the most elusive sketchbooks in the canon. Although it is inscribed on the front in Romney's hand September 1783, this proves surprisingly unhelpful towards identifying the contents. They seem at best only distantly related to the drawings in the Houston sketchbook, which bears the same date and those in Truro No. 2 which was also in use around this time. Not one of the subjects in this sketchbook is immediately recognizable. A clue to their identity may however reside in a list on page 7 of 'Subjects for Pictures', where Romney notes Clarissa in Prison/Belvidera Act 1st a description/Polimetes subjects p. 263/278/Aikin's [illegible]/Sensitive Plant (presumably an anticipation of Emma as Sensibility, though there is nothing visually close to the finished painting of 1787) and Fabulous Dictionary.
The overriding impression left by the sketchbook is the dominance of small single figures and studies of children. Many of these have a pronounced rustic or pastoral character. Two girls with a goat may be distantly related to The Infancy of Jupiter, but elsewhere the girls appear with other animals, for example on page 7v where they are milking a cow. On page 9v there is a study with overtones of Fortune Telling, and on page 17 there is a beautiful study of a girl reading which has overtones of the first Serena paintings of a few years earlier. Just conceivably Romney still had Lord Thurlow's version of Serena on hand – there is a note on page 1, 'Lord Thurlow's Serena' – and made this sketch to get back into the spirit of that work.
Scattered through pages 18 to 32 are a number of caricatured heads which, unfamiliar from this phase of Romney's career, complete the sketchbook's effect of disorientation.
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VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM SKETCHBOOK
Location: Department of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Inventory No. E-4-1926.
Provenance: ... [? J.P. Heseltine; (if the writing on the inside front cover is his; if so, it is likely the book appeared in Miss Elizabeth Romney's sale in the same lot as the Liverpool sketchbook and he acquired the two sketchbooks together)]; ... H.W. Underdown; from whom purchased in 1926 by the present owner.
Description: Chiefly ink and wash, but also some graphite on cream laid paper; 12.5 x 19 cm; 42 pages, numbered 1-42 on the rectos; some pages removed; watermark of crown, shield and VG monogram; calfskin (or pigskin) binding.
This sketchbook is the best place to appreciate the direct and transforming effect on Romney's draughtsmanship of his stay in Italy. The vigour, breadth and spontaneity of the ink drawings in particular reveal Romney full of the new-found confidence which study of the antique and Old Masters had given him. The compositions are taken further towards 'completion' than normal, as though Romney was revelling in drawing for its own sake, and there is also an almost strategic, considered feel to them as a sequence, as if the change of style has been meditated and is a conscious exercise.
Romney must have begun using the sketchbook not long after his return to London in July 1775, since the contents include a number of studies for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe, which he was painting in the course of 1776. Overlapping the contents of the Liverpool and Fitzwilliam No. 1 sketchbooks, there are also studies for a number of the subjects among the Cupid and Psyche series of the Liverpool cartoons, and for what appear to be the heads of Macbeth and Banquo for a projected Macbeth subject. The interior relationship between these three sketchbooks, which form an obvious group, is hard to pin down precisely; yet it seems plausible that this was the first in use of the three, and that the Cupid and Psyche and Macbeth subjects here reflect Romney's first conversations with William Hayley in 1776.
Further subjects include a number of beautiful, broadly brushed landscapes; a crowd scene (e.g. pp. 27, 40v) possibly to be associated with a return to the pre-Italian theme of The Accusation of Susannah; a study (p. 9) for a Mater Dolorosa under a Gothic arch, intended for the commission for an altarpiece for King's College Chapel, Cambridge; and studies of a figure floating on clouds which has traditionally been called Thetis and which later turned into the figure of Ariel in the picture of Act I of The Tempest. The latter, together with the sketches for Elizabeth Warren as Hebe are the most numerous in the volume.
There are manuscript notations at both ends of the sketchbook. At the back Romney noted 'Mrs Robinson in the house Lord Camden lives in', together with the address of Edmund Burke. At the front is a longer memorandum (could this have been addressed to his brother James, who had aspirations as a writer?) which, with the spelling and punctuation corrected, reads: ‘I should like you to write a Satire on the times, marking the follies peculiar to this age, and to draw the conspicuous characters of folly full-length, and to work up a system of that sort that would mark the age. I do not know any subject equal to it for copiousness, variety and entertainment, and beneficent-ness to mankind. There is religious pretension, fashion and tastes that prevail at this time, and to apprehend the great light that is thrown on all the scenes, the extraordinary industry of man in that line and our superiority to all natures in purity of love and superiority in all arts ...’. In its characteristic mixture of bitterness and idealism, this short passage sums up Romney's personality as surely as the pages which follow epitomize his qualities as a draughtsman.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.288a-ss.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite; graphite and black and grey wash; pen with brown ink and wash; 29 x 46 cm; 49 pages (one unnumbered); 62 drawings on 45 sheets; board and leather binding,
Subject-matter in this uniquely grand volume is mixed. Notable are several powerful landscapes, Claudean in their arrangement of motifs e.g. flanking trees in the foreground; forest and a domed temple in the middle range and a mountain peak in the distance (3, 14); other landscapes emphasize the trees. A landscape with mountain peaks is lightly sketched as a backdrop for Canidia and the Youth (13); another Canidia composition (18) employs ink and wash to delineate the figures; it takes place in a cave like setting with one tree to the left providing a landscape accent. Romney worked on the Canidia theme about 1789-91.
Several drawings, e.g. 3v, depict a nude male grasping a running female with upraised left arm, possibly Apollo and Daphne. Of interest is a sheet with numerous figure studies depicting a male figure sitting or bending over a reclining female (9). At the top of the sheet are four studies of a reclining nude female turned towards the viewer, her hands either to her face or on the ground supporting her body. This reclining figure is taken up a few sheets later (12) in a drawing which fills the page and is carefully shaded. Here, the woman's open hands are at her face and she appears surprised by something (not visible) in front of her on the ground. There are several variants of this drawing in the sketchbook.
One drawing (21) shows two figures in a small boat tossing in the waves; one with raised arms looks towards the shore towards a small settlement on the horizon beneath dark clouds blocking the sun, from which rays fan out in the sky above.
The remaining drawings offer either many small, varied studies on the page or focus on a single composition. Bottom, from A Midsummer Night's Dream with his ass's ears (in two studies) shares a page with dancing fairies and additional thumbnail figure studies. Other Shakespearean subjects also appear: Love, Hatred, and Jealousy from The Infant Shakespeare Attended by Nature and the Passions share a page with profile heads which evoke studies of Bolingbroke.
Other full page composition studies may relate to John Howard Visiting a Prison though additional figural groupings are more difficult to interpret. For example, one composition drawing features in the center a veiled woman and balding, bearded man with palms outspread, with cowering and agitated figures on either side; lightly sketched in the background left is a horse. Another sheet consists of thirteen pen and ink profile facial studies and three frontal studies of a nose and mouth as well as thumbnail sketches of flying figures.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.289 a-r.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite, brown ink, brown and grey wash over graphite on laid paper; 11 x 18.5 cm; 20 pages; paper, board and leather binding.
The sketchbook is inscribed on the back cover September 84. The most notable images include head, half- and three-quarter length studies of a seated female. In some, she wears a large-brimmed hat; in others she is shown with long strands of hair shooting outward from her face. In one drawing (6) she is shown in a pose resembling that of Emma Hart in Serena Reading the Gazette. In all these drawings, brush and wash are employed over graphite to clarify and complete the images – but this wash appears to have been applied by someone other than Romney. The resulting images have a ‘showy’, distinctly 20th-century feel.
Other drawings in the sketchbook have a more authentic character. These include studies of two standing women, two men seated on a hill, two women standing over a slumping male figure, a child balanced face down across a woman's lap, and several additional indistinct or scribbled drawings. In these, where wash has been used to enhance the image, it is more likely to have been employed by the artist.
Written inside the back cover is ‘Hero and Leander/The Lady and the Leaf/Dryden's Fables--/16 chapter of the Book/of Numbers’.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.3
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.290a-c (sketchbook pages); B1979.12.291-309 (separate items mounted in the sketchbook).
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and brown ink; 12 sketchbook pages and 19 loose drawings; sizes of sheets vary (those integral to the book 19 x 16.5 cm); board and suede with gold foil binding.
This is a haphazard compilation of drawings on leaves original to the sketchbook, drawings pasted onto original leaves, additional drawings taken from disparate sources and pasted onto non-integral leaves inserted into the book, loose drawings (some in French matting), and pages of script as well as script on narrow scraps of paper bound in. Even a small fragment of marbelized paper has been bound into the volume. The numbering sequence follows the order in which the drawings were arranged when the sketchbook was inventoried in 1963: 290a-c refer to three of the twelve original pages (it is unclear why the other original pages have no inventory number); 291-309 refer to inserted sheets.
One composition has been identified as Aeneas consulting the Cumaean Sibyl (290a); another depicts the Overpowering of Samson (290b, 290c). One drawing may depict a Presentation scene (293). An annotation (not in Romney's hand) identifies two standing figures as "Old Maids" (307).
The three matted drawings included in the volume are portrait studies, two of women (291, 305) and one of a child (302). A note in red pencil on the inside cover of the album, claims that 291 is a study for a portrait of Mrs. Bouvery Grosvenor Sr. ‘not mentioned by Roberts or catalogued/Comes from a sketchbook of 1774/5.’ Additional portrait studies depict a woman with either a child or children (295, 299, 303), and a standing male figure (308). There are several other drawings of standing figures, e.g. two striding figures (294) and a standing woman holding an object in her hands (306). No. 290b (verso) includes three studies of a reclining female nude.
Two slight architectural sketches depict a building (297) and an arch (298); there is a slight landscape sketch (301).
Written material in Romney's hand includes aides-memoire, lists of sitters, etc. Of particular interest is the draft of a letter the artist wrote before his departure from England for Italy, which seeks payment due for a portrait: ‘As I purpose leaving England in two or three weeks time I take the Liberty to remind you that Mr Smith’s Picture has not been payd for and to tell you that it would be doing me a great obligation to remittance of the above bill [etc]’.
Another sheet with notations in graphite and brown ink mentions Bartolozzi among other individuals. An itemized list of household furnishings and furniture (along with prices) includes the following: A Steele [sic] Stove with Irons, A Bed/A Carpet/Six Mahogany Back Stools in [illegible]/One Mahogany Card Table/One Pembroke Table/Six Chaires [sic] with matted seats/Two Loking [sic] glasses/one loking [sic] glass oval/one grate [illegible]/one mahogany Chest of Drawers. The items on the list reach a total of £55 16 shillings and 4 pence.
Inside the back cover of the album is inscribed in blue ink, not in Romney's hand, Lady Clanricarde 1783.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.4
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.600-601.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Pen and black ink with black wash and white chalk over graphite and brown ink and graphite; 2 pages; board and leather with gold foil binding; a matted sketch is glued to the front cover.
The female portrait clumsily mounted on the cover of this sketchbook is identified in the hand of Robert Rene Meyer Sée as being an ‘Early Portrait/of Emy Lyon/by George Romney’. However, there is no basis for this claim. Further, the brown ink wash and white chalk applied over Romney's authentic faint graphite sketch is an awkward addition, presumably applied by the same hand that compromised the integrity of the drawings in Yale No.2.
Included within the sketchbook covers are two leaves. On the first, written vertically in brown ink in Romney's hand, is: White [?] 46 pr hundred/Linseed oil 6 shillings/per gallon/Turpentine 8---. Also on this sheet, written horizontally, is G Romney. In a blue chalk inscription written below, Sée claims this to be Romney's signature. However, Patricia Jaffé, in a 1979 note inserted into the sketchbook disputes this. A second interleaved sheet, larger than the first, has graphite sketches on both the recto and verso which probably depict the mariners from the Shipwreck Scene from The Tempest.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.5
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.602a-d.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and ink over graphite on paper; 16.5 x 25.5 cm; 4 pages; some pages removed; board and leather binding.
An inscription on p. 1, not in Romney's hand, reads ‘Plans for the/ House to be built at/ Hampstead/Sketches: Weird Sisters. Lapland W/ and Miltonic Scenes (1794, 5, 6) Scenes’. All that remain, however, are four drawings of house plans (1v; 2, 3,4) plus one elevation drawing (4v), presumably for Prospect House, the domicile Romney built on Holly Bush Hill in Hampstead. Romney had written Hayley in June 1795 of his intention to ‘build me a house which I hope will inspire me with new vigour ...’. The house as built accommodated a spacious double storied columned gallery for the display of Romney's casts as well as a large studio.
The plans sketched herein are notable for containing a large square room, half of which projects outward from the short side of the rectangular house. The room contains a circular colonnade inscribed within the square. At the back of the square, stairs lead to an upper level. Such a design, as David Cross has noted, echoes the Cortile Belvedere in the Vatican, in which classical sculptures are displayed, including the Laocoon group, of which Romney owned a plaster cast. Romney was also influenced by English architectural examples. The central gabled feature in the elevation drawing, projecting forward and raised on a ground story, is reminiscent of Lord Burlington and William Kent's Chiswick House, the initial prototype for Palladian architecture in England. In designing his house, Romney reveals the impact made upon him by his Italian study of antique sculptures as well as his immersion in the precepts of Neoclassical architecture in England.
An inscription on the inside back cover reads: Ticket for Mr Hayley 43-544/cost 8-12-8.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.6
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1979.12.754a-x.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (unknown lot no.); ... Xavier Haas; acquired from the Haas family in 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Richardson Dilworth; by whom presented in 1962 to Yale University Art Gallery; transferred in 1979 to the present owner.
Description: Graphite; 14 x 23.5 cm; 24 pages with 30 drawings; board and leather binding.
The front cover of the sketchbook is inscribed in ink 1 - June '93. The first drawing depicts Satan holding aloft a shield as seen in studies for The Fall of the Rebel Angels from Book I of Milton's Paradise Lost; the tumbling bodies of his host appear to the left and below. Additional drawings featuring Satan relate to this theme (1v [left], 11v, 13, 13v, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22.) although one of these (14), in which Satan's followers raise up their arms towards him may relate to 'Satan Rallying His Host', the following episode in Paradise Lost.
Five drawings depict the Banquet Scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth (8, 9, 10, 11, 12). These indicate that Romney was still pursuing this theme in 1793, though it was vain to think a commission for a painting on the subject would be forthcoming from John Boydell for the Shakespeare Gallery. These drawings revert to the compositional arrangement for the Banquet Scene used by Romney in a 1786 sketchbook and a large-scale drawing in the Folger Library, in which the ghost of Banquo stands or hovers at the left, with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth standing in at the center, the guests to the right.
Another subject for which Romney produced a voluminous number of drawings in the early 1790s is also represented here, John Howard Visiting a Prison (5v, 6, 7). Several drawings on an unidentified theme include studies of reclining figures and figures leaning over a reclining male figure. Two final drawings in the sketchbook feature a closely packed crowd of individuals, some of whom seem to be in the process of being dragged off to prison (or Hell?). One figure's hands are bound behind his back; women at the center are being pushed along; and a figure at the right is being dragged along by the hair. To the left rear, an indistinct seated figure may represent someone sitting in judgment. The subject is an unfamiliar one, powerful in the sense of menace it conveys.
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YALE SKETCHBOOK NO.7
Location: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT. Inventory No. B1980.30.
Provenance: By descent to Miss Elizabeth Romney; Christie’s 24-25 May 1894 (?part of lot 38; bought by C. Fairfax Murray) [on the assumption that this, rather than Fitzwilliam No.3, is the sketchbook described in T. Humphry Ward and William Roberts: Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonne of his Works (1904) vol. 1 pp. 35-6]; ... Christopher Powney; ... Henry L. Stern Ltd.; from whom bought in 1980 by the present owner.
Description: Graphite and pen and brown ink; 16.5 x 11 cm; 170 pages, unnumbered; vellum binding.
This sketchbook was used by Romney during his stay in Italy. He left England on 20 March 1773, and some jottings in the sketchbook were apparently made en route. The artist's name and the date June 5 1773 appear in the sketchbook; and Livorno (Leghorn) is mentioned (Romney sailed from Genoa to Leghorn). Romney arrived in Genoa by May 29th, and proceeded to view works of art in palaces and churches. A drawing of a half-length portrait of a bearded man wearing a ruff is presumably after Van Dyck and could have been made in Genoa.
In Florence Romney continued his study of works of art. He visited Florence both on his way to Rome in 1773 and on his return to England in 1775, and he presumably used this sketchbook on both occasions since notations in the sketchbook relate to his homeward travel plans.
Artists mentioned in the sketchbook include Rembrandt, Masaccio, Ghiberti, Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Fra Bartolommeo. A notation [not in Romney's hand] states that, to see a Fra Bartolommeo painting in San Marco, one should arrive ‘between ten and eleven/speak to the Apothecary in Patch's name’. Thomas Patch was an English artist who was a long- time resident of Florence. In a list of tasks to perform on his return to London, Romney mentions Johann Zoffany, who had been sent by Queen Charlotte to Florence in 1772 to paint his The Tribuna of the Uffizi and was still in Florence when Romney returned there in 1775: Enquire for a Case of mahogany of M Zoffany at Mr Dale’s in Newport Street and send it toFlorence but remember to open it - also have some firearms examined-- Call on Mr Dalton and looke at a Picture of the Flight into Egypt by Mr. Zoffany--.
Drawings of several of Michelangelo's works in Florence appear in the sketchbook, including three drawings of the Bacchus in the Bargello. These particular drawings are curious as they could not have been done before the motif for the reason that, in contrast to the original, Bacchus' left hand, rather than his right hand, holds the wine cup and his left leg, not his right one, is bent. This must mean the Romney was working from an engraving. Curiously, another drawing after Michelangelo, of the Madonna and Child from the Medici Tombs in San Lorenzo was done from the motif, taking the view from the front left. That this sketchbook was also in use in Rome is shown by a drawing of Psyche being rowed by Charon across the Styx, clearly influenced by Charon's boat Michelangelo's in The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Other drawings, which copy classical works in Rome, include a profile of the head of Zeus and two studies of Laocoon's right foot.
Drawings in the sketchbook reflect the artist's familiar preoccupations: There are some thirty-five landscapes of various sorts; most here are slight, indistinct sketches, some mere scribbles. Copies after works of classical and Renaissance art have been alluded to above; there are numerous figure studies and suggestions for subject pictures. Two vivid studies of enraged faces with flowing hair, expressing their fury through bulging eyes and bow-shaped open mouths remind us of the artist's interest in stylized studies of expression. His keen interest in the study of anatomy is evidenced by an écorché (buttocks and right leg). Also included are several portrait studies, e.g. of a mother and child (repr. Alex Kidson: George Romney 1734-1802, exhibition catalogue, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery London and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2002) fig. 35). Drawings in the sketchbook vary from scribbles and vague suggestions to carefully shaded studies of heads e.g of a bearded, bald old man. In most cases subjects are limited to single examples though there are two drawings of a seated woman with elbows on a table (as well as the three of Michelangelo's Bacchus).
One complex composition comprises nine mourning figures surrounding a figure laid out upon a bier. Two of the mourners gesticulate with broad upstretched arms; two others hold their arms to their faces; one sits on the floor in front of the bier. This is a generic mourning scene, probably a composition taken from a Baroque work, one not yet identified. The scene provides the germ of such compositions as the Death of Sigismunda, the Liverpool cartoon which Romney may have completed while in Italy (see Louvre No.4).
Notations in the sketchbook include various ideas for subject pictures. Among those which can be deciphered are the following [Romney's spelling retained]: Cupid and Psyche, Pan and Syrinx embracing, Mars and Venus, Hygea, Ephugenie, The nut Brown made, A Bacconti, A Muse, Agripene, Venus and Cupid at the beginning of Venus and Adonis in Ovid, Psyche in Different parts, Lucrecia, Ceres, a young Jupiter with his two woman attendants, Two Baccenti figures. Later in the sketchbook is a description of Niobe's family, detailing their poses. ‘1 the mother/2 sons with his arm over the left shoulder/3 ditto over the right/4 ditto looking up over the right shoulder/5 the youngest daughter/6 the elegant one’.
Of interest is an extensive quotation from a poem describing classical grave rituals: ‘There mournful Obseques/and on the ground-/With all the Rites the mixd/libation pour-/Blood, water, Milke from/mountain [illegible] drawn-/The Bees sweet Tribute and/the vine rich juice/ An offering over gratefull/to the dead ...’. As a visual reflection of these lines, a figure holding a libation bowl (Sorrow) was soon to appear in Romney's cartoon of Nature unveiling herself to the Infant Shakespeare.
Three pages of script are particularly interesting for demonstrating Romney's close study of another artist's painting technique and his acute abilities for observation. Romney provides a very close analysis of Van Dyck's method of applying pigments as observed in a painting in the possession of ‘Mr. Jenkins’, i.e. the painter, antiquarian and dealer Thomas Jenkins, based in Rome. Romney notes: ‘The ground before the finishing/has been lighter than the finish/both in the boy and its mother/ ... the degredations are/ purpleish or blueish and seem/ to be a medium between vermilian/ and yellow okre painted exceeding/ thin or glaised- there is an/ exceding tenderness between the/ flesh and hair which is between/ a flaxen and a yellow, and the/ tint that unites them is/ purpleish mixed with the hair/ colour-the deeper shadows/ are vermilian and black/ very thin - with sometimes a little/ yellow okre ...’ [and etc.] The full transcription (with spelling and punctuation corrected) is found in T. Humphry Ward and William Roberts: Romney: A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Raisonne of his Works (1904) vol. 1, pp. 35-6.
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APPENDIX A
These sketchbooks have appeared on the market in recent years, but did not enter public collections.
ABBOTT AND HOLDER SKETCHBOOK NO.1
Location: This sketchbook was disbound in 2016 for exhibition and sale. Pages 5, 9, 11, 17, 23 and the binding are in The Higgins, Bedford (Inventory numbers P10121-25; five drawings on John Howard subjects) and P10126; binding). The rest are in private collections.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3); Abbott and Holder, London, George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook B’.
Description: Pencil on wove paper; 14 x23 cm; 38 pages unnumbered; Whatman watermark; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The sketchbook is another of the small, marbled volumes Romney used during the early and mid-1790s, this one perhaps c.1793. It is inscribed Satan / Howard to the front and contains a sequence of thirteen drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison followed by three drawings for The Effects of Envy and Pride.
The drawings for John Howard Visiting a Prison are late in the development of the composition, Romney’s concentration having settled on the writhing mass of bodies of the prisoners. Made quickly, the drawings are mostly expressive compositional studies, counterbalanced by fewer pages with drawings for some of the individual groups of figures - a characteristic honing-in on elements of what might otherwise appear to be a rather vague composition.
The three drawings for The Effects of Envy and Pride similarly concentrate on certain elements of the composition, bringing clarity to the relationship between some of the figures and what they are doing. The title ‘Satan’ to the cover of the sketchbook may relate to these works - the composition is clearly an amalgamation of episodes from Paradise Lost - and if so is surely essential in understanding the picture. But, as ever, the relationship between the inscriptions to the covers of Romney’s sketchbooks and their contents is to be treated with caution. It is just as likely that Romney titled the sketchbook intending to treat a different subject.
Other than one small study for an unidentified composition, no other subjects appear in the volume. This, and the fact that the book has been used in its entirety, in one direction, gives it a sense of consistency that is unusual for Romney’s sketchbooks of the period, and serves as a reminder that he was perfectly capable of prolonged sessions of concentrated thought on one subject.
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ABBOTT AND HOLDER SKETCHBOOK NO.2
Location: This sketchbook was disbound in 2016 for exhibition and sale. Pages 23, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51 and the binding are in the RIBA Collections, inventory no. SKB469/1. The rest are in private collections.
Provenance: … Mr and Mrs Howard Samuel; Bonham’s 8 July 2015 (3, part); Abbott and Holder, London, George Romney – Heroic Drawings inspired by Shakespeare, Milton and Howard, 2016, ‘Sketchbook C’.
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on wove paper; 14x23 cm; 52 pages unnumbered; Whatman 1794 watermark; half-calf binding with marbled boards.
The marbled cover of this volume is not titled. The inside cover is inscribed Stuart Athens and the inside back inscribed Mr Mambern(?) / Holes(?) Street N12 / (…) 6 Evening. Page 49 is also inscribed Aldergate Street | Elephant and Castle / to go from there, tomorrow morning / early -.
The sketchbook has been used in both directions. In one, it starts with a sequence of eight drawings for A Shipwreck at the Cape of Good Hope. These rare sheets treat each main element of the composition as it is known from the engraving by William Blake - the figure of Wolraad Woltemade on his horse rescuing the drowning from the water; the female figure washed in by the waves at the lower right of the picture; and the passengers of the sinking ship reaching for the sails and mast in desperation. These are so close to the finished picture that the drawings were either made very late in the development of the composition, or this is a rare case of Romney feeling his initial designs needed little re-working. As Alex Kidson noted in his introduction to these drawings in the Abbott and Holder exhibition catalogue, it is a perverse fact that John Howard, for which there are hundreds of known drawings, never made it off the page and onto canvas, while this subject, for which so few drawings are known, made it at least as far as an oil sketch (now lost).
Opened in the other direction, the sketchbook contains sixteen architectural plans and elevations that are ideas for the house and studio Romney would eventually build in Hampstead. These are a common appearance in Romney’s sketchbooks of the mid-1790s.
Interspersed within these architectural sketches are five drawings for a subject known only through one other drawing, in the National Gallery of Scotland. A group of women process up a hill, hands outstretched, towards a small temple building where a female figure stands to great them. One of these sheets is inscribed Entrust thy care to Truth alone / And Rugged Virtue will guard thy Throne in Romney’s hand. The lines appear again, with variations and corrections, on another sheet, providing clear evidence the couplet was composed by Romney.
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APPENDIX B
The Truro Sketchbooks
Eight Romney sketchbooks were amongst the paintings and drawings Alfred De Pass (1861-1952), a South-African businessman, gave to the Royal Institution of Cornwall between 1914 and 1935. The sketchbooks all appear in George Penrose’s 1936 museum catalogue of the De Pass Collection.
In 1956 the eight sketchbooks were at the Courtauld Institute, where they were photographed, perhaps in preparation for the 1957 travelling Arts Council Exhibition of Drawings from the Alfred A. de Pass Collection belonging to the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro, in which two sheets from one of the sketchbooks were exhibited (exhibition nos. 57 and 58).
Three of these sketchbooks remained at the Courtauld until 2005, when they were returned to the Royal Cornwall Museum (ex Royal Institution of Cornwall). They appear in this catalogue as Truro Sketchbooks Nos. 1-3. The remaining five were sold at Christie’s on Tuesday 22nd February 1966 (lots 21- 25) along with other drawings given to the Royal Institution of Cornwall by De Pass.
Of the five sketchbooks that were sold, three are now in public collections. Lot 21 is Abbot Hall Sketchbook No.2, Lot 22 is Stanford Sketchbook No.1, and Lot 23 is British Museum Sketchbook No.3. Of the other two sketchbooks in the sale, Lot 24 was disbound and the individual sheets sold, and Lot 25 is unaccounted for. But as the Witt library has a full photographic record of these two sketchbooks, soon to be available online, entries for both are given below. For ease of identification, the sketchbooks are referred to by the titles allocated them in the Witt Library.
TRURO SKETCHBOOK C
Location: This sketchbook has been dis-bound and the individual sheets dispersed. Some of the pages that have appeared on the market in recent years are …
p.19 Christie’s, New York, 13 January 1993 (132)
p.21 Christie’s, 10 July 2012 (30)
p.47 Sotheby’s, 9 January 1996 (166); Christies 7 December 2016 (174)
p.79 Christie’s, New York, 29 January 2015 (103)
Provenance: … Alfred De Pass; by whom given to The Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1923; Christies 22 February 1966 (24); bought by Christopher Powney; …
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on paper; 11.5 x 18.5 cms; 114 pages numbered recto and verso in the Witt Library; the binding not photographed.
This sketchbook is dated ‘Nov 1783’ inside the front cover. It contains three notes of money received on account from Romney. Two, for £10 (dated Nov 5th 1783) and for £20 (dated Nov 12th 1783) are signed ‘Gilpin’, presumably the animal painter Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807). The third, for £10 (dated Nov 14th 1783) is signed Elmer, presumably the animal painter Stephen Elmer (1715-1796). Romney’s generosity in lending money is well noted, but payments on account made to two animal painters in the same month might suggest Romney had engaged them professionally. The sketchbook contains studies for A Girl with her Dead Fawn, the painting John Romney claimed was left unfinished only ‘for want of a fawn to paint after’, and a number of studies for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy, for which Thomas Robinson noted that Sawrey Gilpin had painted the lions. It would be a leap to connect the payments here with either of these pictures, but both are a good example of instances in which Romney might have considered a collaborative enterprise in the same vein as William Hodges’ Jacques and the Stag, on which Romney and Gilpin also worked.
Extensive notes and jottings appear on the pages at both ends of the sketchbook. Those inside the front cover refer to the delivery of his portraits of Miss Catherine Holford (for which he received payment in February 1783) and Charles Agar (begun in 1782). A note on p.113 ‘Mrs Ord [sic] Picture to be finished’, probably refers to his portrait of Sir John Orde, which he began in 1782 but was perhaps commissioned by his wife Margaret, who he had married in 1781.
On p.114 is a list of people who owed Romney money for portraits. As ‘Mr Knight’, who paid Romney for the portrait of his wife Catherine on 26th November 1783 is scored through, but ‘Mr Herun’ (sic, Heron), who paid for his portrait on 21st December 1783 is not, suggests Romney had put the sketchbooks aside at some point between these two dates. The appearance of ‘Duke of Marlborough’ in pencil underneath this list is perhaps not a reference to a debt, but more likely a reminder to pursue work on his portraits of the Duke and Duchess, begun in 1779, and for which they had sat again in May and April 1783 respectively. Drawings on pages 96 and 97 strongly resemble the portraits.
Although many of the drawings in the sketchbook are for as yet unidentified subjects, there is some overlap with the contents of sketchbooks of a similar date, notably Truro Sketchbook No.2 and the Houston Sketchbook. Significantly, the current volume contains a number of studies for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy, the picture that developed out of the Infancy of Jupiter, which appears in the Houston Sketchbook. That sketchbook is dated September 1783, further supporting the evidence that Romney was using this sketchbook in, or around, November of 1783.
Drawings for identifiable subjects include studies for A Girl with her Dead Fawn and The Destruction of Niobe’s Children, a subject Romney was either reviving or had continued to consider since the 1770s. Drawings of children, and, separately, of a reclining female figure, relate to Romney’s various paintings of Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, most notably Titania Reclining with her Indian Votaries, and Titania’s Attendants Chasing Bats. However, some of the drawings of a reclining woman may relate to Emma as Alope - the child who modelled for this picture was the same son of a guardsman who modelled for The Infant Shakespeare Nursed by Tragedy and Comedy.
There are some drawings for portraits in the sketchbook, including a study of a woman leaning on a ledge or pedestal, which can be loosely related to a number portraits Romney was working on at or around this date. There are also studies for an equestrian portrait, a format rare in Romney’s oeuvre, although he was working on a few around this date: those of Samuel Hartley, who had sittings in November 1783, Colonel Jacob Camac, who sat to Romney the same month, and John Christian, who had sat to Romney in 1782, but whose portrait was likely ongoing. It is worth noting that studies for an equestrian portrait also appear in the similarly dated Truro Sketchbook No.2, the Houston Sketchbook, and Truro Sketchbook D.
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TRURO SKETCHBOOK D
Location: Unknown.
Provenance: … Alfred De Pass; by whom given to The Royal Institution of Cornwall, 1923; Christies 22 February 1966 (25); bought by Spanierman.
Description: Pencil, pen and ink on paper; 15 x 19 cms; 137 pages numbered recto and verso in the Witt Library; brown leather binding (not photographed at the Witt).
According to Christie’s 1966 lot cataloguing, the cover of this sketchbook was inscribed ‘June 1784 from January’. But dating is never a simple issue with Romney sketchbooks, and the waters are muddied here by the appearance of ‘Thursday 10th January’ inside the cover - 10th January fell on a Thursday in 1782. The January - June 1784 date range is well supported, however, by the numerous other notes and names of sitters in the volume. As with Truro Sketchbook C, there is a list of debtors on which ‘Mr Drumand’ (sic), who probably paid for his portrait in early 1784, is crossed through, while ‘Lord Malden’, who Romney painted in 1781 but paid for his portrait only in October 1788, is not. Furthermore, a note on page 9, ‘Mr Newbery / will sit Thursday / 10 of June / at one o’clock’ supports the cover dating as Romney did indeed paint Francis Newbery in 1784, and 10th June fell on a Thursday that year…
That this sketchbook was in use soon, or immediately after Truro Sketchbook C, is also confirmed by a certain overlap in contents; studies for an equestrian portrait, studies of children (some seemingly drawn from life, others probably for Titania’s attendants) and reclining female figures relating to Romney’s Titania subjects as well as Emma as Alope. However, as Emma Hart had resuming sitting for Romney in December of 1783, just as the Truro Sketchbook C was being set aside, it is no surprise that she dominates the volume. Indeed, the extent to which she does is a valuable gauge of just how much she took over his creative energies.
There is a portrait study of a woman in a hat that may relate to the portrait of Emma now in the Huntington Library which was commissioned by Charles Greville and probably begun in late December 1783. There are drawings for Emma as a Bacchante, again begun late in 1783, and drawings for Emma as Cassandra, certainly begun before Emma’s departure for Italy in March 1786. There are also some sheets with figures that on first inspection seem to relate to the lost Initiation of a Rustic Nymph, but which are perhaps studies relating to Emma in a Fortune Telling Scene, which derived from the former composition and was begun soon after her return in late 1783.
All in all, both Truro sketchbooks, with their density of drawings for numerous, wide-ranging subjects, the re-appearance of Emma Hart and her influence, along with the extensive notes, lists and receipts, give a vivid sense of Romney’s life at the height of his popularity. The sketchbooks are marked with energy and confidence, a place where he juggled ideas for subject pictures and the practicalities of an increasingly busy professional life. With hindsight, of course, there is the sense of foreboding that his aspirations for the former would be consumed by the latter, and his relentless, creative burning of the candle at both ends would result in the physical and mental weaknesses that were to mark his later years.
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