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John Hamilton MortimerEighteenth century Old Master drawing - Apollo destroying Niobe's childrenc.1765
c.1765
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£5,000
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About the Item
Pen, ink and wash
Framed dimensions: 13 x 11 ¼ inches
Drawn c.1765
Verso: a study of a hanged man
Mortimer has filled this small sheet with action, depicting in the top right, Apollo and Artemis destroying the children of Niobe, in the bottom a hermit-like saint, dressed in rags and contemplating a holy book, with a band of banditti suggested on the left. On the verso, there is a rapid black chalk sketch of a hanged man. The depiction of Apollo and Artemis in the act of destroying the children of Niobe recalls the work of Mortimer’s friend, Richard Wilson and may offer supporting evidence to a statement by Henry Angelo:
‘Mortimer and Wilson, though dissimilar in their general habits, were great cronies at this period: so much so, indeed, that Mortimer painted for his ingenious colleague the figures in the clouds and those on earth, in his famous picture of the Niobe… Nothing, to be sure, could be more like mere daubing than the figures of Wilson’s painting, generally.’
Whilst the idea that Mortimer had any involvement in Wilson’s depictions of Niobe has never been taken seriously, this drawing points to his awareness of the finished composition, the figures being close to those added by Placido Costanzi to at least one version of the painting. Mortimer did alter the figures in another of Wilson’s historical landscapes, his Meleager and Atalanta. Whilst the present drawing does not confirm Mortimer’s involvement with Wilson’s painting, it suggests that his friendship with Wilson and Thomas Jones meant he was actively thinking about the figural groups in their historical works.
- Creator:John Hamilton Mortimer (1740 - 1779, English)
- Creation Year:c.1765
- Dimensions:Height: 7.63 in (19.39 cm)Width: 6.13 in (15.58 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU150728412212
John Hamilton Mortimer
John Hamilton Mortimer was a British figure and landscape painter and printmaker, known for romantic paintings set in Italy, works depicting conversations and works drawn in the 1770s portraying war scenes, similar to those of Salvator Rosa. Mortimer became President of the Society of Artists in 1774, five years before his death, at age 39.
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Framed dimensions: 9 ½ x 11 ¼ inches
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Literature:
Jacob Simon and Ellis Hillman, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, cat. no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre);
Elizabeth Einberg (ed.), Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, exh. cat., London (Tate Gallery), 1987, cat. no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre);
Tabitha Barber and Tim Bachelor, British Baroque: Power and Illusion, exh. cat., London (Tate Britain), 2020.
Exhibited:
Twickenham, Marble Hill House, English Baroque Sketches: The Painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill, 1974, no.12 (as by Louis Laguerre);
London, Tate Gallery, Manners and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting, 1700-1760, 1987, no.10 (as by Louis Laguerre);
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Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961;
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By Henry Fuseli
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Black chalks, on buff-coloured paper
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Framed dimensions: 26.38 x 20.63 inches
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Collections: J. Goodfriend, USA.
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Framed dimensions: 13.25 x 11.75 inches
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