View of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the Janiculum

View of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the Janiculum

Richard Wilson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1750, Richard Wilson traveled to Italy, where he hoped to advance his career by winning portrait commissions from young British aristocrats making the Grand Tour, and to widen his knowledge of art by studying ancient works of sculpture and architecture. Instead, he would achieve success during his seven-year sojourn in Italy by painting views of that country's distinctive landscape. He made this drawing in 1754 for William Legge, second earl of Dartmouth (1731–1801), as part of a large group depicting views in Rome. Wilson appears to have painted his landscapes primarily in the studio, incorporating studies made on the spot (in oils, graphite, or chalks) with conventional motifs and methods of composition inspired by Claude Lorrain. Here, Wilson frames a prospect terminating in Michelangelo's great dome of St. Peter's with picturesque trees and travelers, and juxtaposes the precisely described architecture with softly rendered clouds.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

View of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the JaniculumView of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the JaniculumView of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the JaniculumView of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the JaniculumView of St. Peter's and the Vatican from the Janiculum

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.