Friday, 2 February 2024

Christopher Hewetson (Part 4).


Post under construction.


 Christopher Hewetson, an Irish Sculptor in Rome (Part 4).

The Busts of Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli (1705 - 1774).

Pope Clement XIV. (1769 - 1774).


There appears to be another bust which is still at Gorhambury House, St. Albans, Hertforshire, signed Christo.us Hewetson Fect. 1772. (this location to be confirmed).


Another marble version is in the Vatican Museums, Rome and inscribed CLEMENS. XIV. P. M. and signed Chrisf.Hewetson fec.it

Another version is in  Musei Capitolini, Museo di Roma (MR5702), apparently not signed or dated.

There is a plaster version Museo Civico, Bassano and is illustrated in E. Bassi, Canova, 1943, p. 16 and pl. 22 (wrongly attributed to Canova).




The Yale Centre for British Art white marble bust of Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli (1705 - 1774).

Pope Clement XIV. (1769 - 1774).

Height 80 cms.

https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:4983

It is not signed or dated.

They do not provide a provenance.

It had entered the collection by 1977.




























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The Victoria and Albert Museum Pope Clement XIV.

Provenance formerly at Margam Park, Glamorgan.

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/pope-clement-xiv-giovanni-vincenzo-antonio-ganganelli-17051774-253609

 Signed and dated 1773.

Sold Christie’s, Margam Castle sale, 29 October, 1941, lot 461 (wrongly described as Pope Leo X) and now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (A.22-1948).

Inscribed CLEMENS . XIV . PONT . MAX and signed Christof. Hewetson Romae 1773.


































Image below from the National Library of Wales.

The Library at Margam photographed by Spencer Nichol, September 1885.
with the bust of Clement XIV on the bookcase with another unidentified bust.



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The Christie's, New York, Pope Clement XIV.

Christie's Lot 23, 1st May 2019.

Images from Christie's website

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6198692













This version below is illustrated in Papi in Posa: 500 Years of Papal Portraiture. Pub 2013.


79 cms.

Inscribed CLEMENS. XIV. P.M. and Chrisf Hewetson fecit

It seems that it was exhibited at the Maastricht TEFAF Fair in 2002. by Altomani and Sons.


The flaw in the marble the eared support should make it readily identifiable if it appears in the future.

79 cms.

Inscribed CLEMENS. XIV. P.M. and Chrisf Hewetson fecit.

It seems that it was exhibited at the Maastricht TEFAF Fair in 2002 by Altomani and Sons.







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The Beningborough Hall, Clement XIV.

This is the earliest of the known versions.


Beningborough Hall now with the National Trust.

Inscribed CLEMENS / XIV PON. M. / MDCCLXXI [1771] and illustrated in Country Life, LXII (1927), p. 775.

Images below from the Art UK website.

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/pope-clement-xiv-giovanni-vincenzo-antonio-ganganelli-17051774-253609

They say -

It was probably acquired by Giles and Margaret Earle – niece of John Bourchier who built Beningbrough Hall – in Italy in 1770 –1, possibly on the advice of Gavin Hamilton, a principal dealer in Italy (along with Thomas Jenkins). 

They bought it after the pregnant Mrs Earle received special papal permission to spend time in a convent, on which subject her husband wrote that the Pope 'has shown us many marks of the most condescending distinction'.




























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Pope Clement XIV

Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli

The Paul Mellon Archive Photograph.

Giving the provenance as Lord Hylton of Ammerdown Park, Somerset

Sold Christies 11 December 1990.

Inscribed CHRISTOPHORUS HEWETSON FECT 1772.

Now with the National Galleries of Scotland.

The Nation Gallery of Scotland Bust of Clement XIV.

Marble Bust.

Christopher Hewetson.

70 cms 

Purchased by the Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland, 1990.

Accession number: NG 2525

No further information on the website!


https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/15238/lorenzo-ganganelli-pope-clement-xiv-1769-1774














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Image above from Flikr.


Image above kindly supplied by Alejando Basterrechia of the National Museum of Scotland.

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A Bust of Clement XIV by Hewetson.

The British Museum Drawing by Nicolaus Mosman (1727 - 1787).

1774.

One of a series of 277 drawings commissioned by Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793); head turned slightly to left

Black chalk.


Donated by: Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter.

Acquisition date

1779.


The socle does not follow that used on the busts illustrated above with the eared support on the socle.











Nicolaus Mosman - Draughtsman and engraver. Born Haroué(Lorraine) 1727, died Rome 1787. 1757 moved to Rome and worked as a Pontifical soldier. Lived together with C Unterberger. Collaborated in the copper plates for Winckelmann 'monumenti antichi'.



The Vatican Museum Marble Bust.

79 cms.



Without any inscription. The sculpture comes from the collection of Count Gregorio Stroganoff and was published in the two-volume catalog of 1911, edited by Antonio Muñoz, with the attribution to Antonio Canova. 

After the death of Count Stroganoff, in one of the sales that led to the dispersion of the collection, perhaps in the 1920s, the bust was purchased by Muñoz himself, and later sold by his widow to the Museum of Rome. 

The sculpture, is similar to the autograph example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 1773, but is almost certainly a copy from Hewetson's studio.

There are several variations from the autograph busts - the most obvious is the the position of the head facing left instead of right, hair falling over the ears instead of raised backwards, differences in the cord of the stole and in the number of buttons on the mozzetta.

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The Plaster Bust of Clement XIV in the Canova Possagno Plaster Cast Gallery.








A portrait bust of the pontiff by Christopher Hewetson, a friend of Canova since 1780, provided guidelines for Canova’s representation and the tomb’s completion was celebrated at a party given by Hewetson in 1787.


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Museum of Rome.

The same bust as above - here below described as by  Hewetson

https://www.bildindex.de/document/obj08116725?part=0&medium=bh800354







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Clement XIV

Antonio Canova. (1757 - 1822).

Collezione G. Stroganoff, Rome.

Image below from

http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/84805/Canova%20Antonio%2C%20Ritratto%20di%20papa%20Clemente%20XIV






Thursday, 1 February 2024

Christopher Hewetson Irish Sculptor in Rome (Part 3 ). and his assistant Cristofano Prosperi.

 


Christopher Hewetson, an Irish Sculptor in Rome (Part 3).

and his assistant Cristoforo Prosperi.

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Some notes and Images Cristofano Prosperi ( ? - 1816) assistant to Christopher Hewetson in Rome.

Prosperi was still working in the Rome studio of Hewetson when he died.

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A Colossal bust of Mr Pitt.

Possibly William Pitt the Younger.

In about 1796 Hewetson received a commission from the 4th Earl of Bristol as the Bishop of Derry had become, for a statue? of Pitt 

See Dictionary of English... in Italy Ingamells pub. Yale 1997.


see also the excellent Thesis by Maeve O'Dwyer, University of Edinburgh, 2016.

From Batoni's Brush to Canova's Chisel..........

https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/23623/O'Dwyer2017%20Vol1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


In the Essay by Katherine Esdaile - Christopher Hewetson and His Monument to Dr. Baldwin in Trinity College, Dublin in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Dec., 1947), pp. 134-135.

Available on line through jstore.org

She states that in a copy of Whitaker's History of Whalley, which had once belonged to RH Beaumont there were some loose notes on Hewetson......

The notorious Bishop, Earl of Bristol for "a colossal portrait of Mr. Pitt in marble," he relates that Hewetson, having just an unsatisfactory engraving to go on only undertook it "for the Love of Bread and Cheese".

 

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Prosperi was still working in Rome in 1800 but was in England by 1806 when he exhibited at the Royal Academy.

A Monumental Statuary Marble bust.


Depicted à l'Antique, the socle signed and dated CRISTOFANO PROSPERI.FECIT.ROMA.1800,

https://www.christies.com/zh/lot/lot-5507650








Back in the 80's I was made aware that some objects from Ickworth House were occasionally coming onto the market .........


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List of works by Cristofano Prosperi.

https://gunnis.henry-moore.org/henrymoore/works/recordlist.php

from the online database.

A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851.

The comments in italics are the authors.


Captain Sir Peter Parker. Funerary Monument.   †1814  St Margaret, Westminster, London.

Edward Grant.  Funerary Monument.  ?1812. Lichborough, Northants.

Frederick-Augustus, Duke of York and Albany. Bust. nd. Holland House, London. Untraced.

Sir Francis Bourgeois. Bust. 1811-1812 Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, Mausoleum. (see images below).

V Pucitta. Bust. 1810. Exhib. RA, London, 768. Untraced.

J Symmons. Bust. 1810. Exhib. RA, London, 867. Untraced.

Mr Bruce.  Bust. 1811. Exhib. RA, London, 911. Untraced.

Unidentified gentleman. Bust. 1811.   Exhib. RA, London, 923. Untraced.

Mrs Morse.       Bust     1812. Exhib. RA, London, 899. Untraced.

Princess Pietrapersia of Naples. Bust. 1813. Exhib. RA, London, 921, Untraced.

William Shakespeare.  Bust. 1813.  Exhib. RA, London, 923. Untraced.

Rev T Watkins.  Bust. 1814. Exhib. RA, London, 775. Untraced.

Rev R Harington. Bust. 1814.    Exhib. RA, London, 776. Untraced.

P Watkins. Bust. 1814. Exhib. RA, London, 799. Untraced.

General Moreau.  Bust.  1815    Exhib. RA, London, 873. Untraced.

J Forbes.  Bust. 1816. Exhib RA. London, 942, Untraced.

Venus and Cupid, Statue.  c.1812. Stratfield Saye, Hants.

Bacchus and Ariadne, Statue. c.1812 Stratfield Saye, Hants.

Sir John Throckmorton (after a model by C Hewetson), Bust. 1800, Coughton Court, Alcester, Warks (National Trust).     

Noel Desenfans, 1811-1812,  Bust. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, Mausoleum. (see below).

William Pitt.  Bust. 1810,  Untraced. (see images above).

Mr Vestris. Bust. 1810,  Exhib. RA, London, 868. Untraced.

Lord Downe. Bust. 1810,    Exhib. RA, London, 887. Untraced.

Henry Hope. Bust. 1811,    Exhib. RA, London, 937, Untraced.

Horatia Nelson. Bust. 1811, NMM. Greenwich, SCU0107. (see below)

George, Marquess of Blandford. Bust, 1814. Exhib. RA, London, 767, Untraced.

Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus, 1813. Exhib. RA, London, 906. Untraced.

Diana. Bust. 1814. Exhib. RA, London, 777 Untraced.

Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex. Bust, 1811. Woburn Abbey, Beds.( the plaster model was exhibited RA 1811 (953), the marble RA 1812 (935) Info here NPG). see https://auctions.dreweatts.com/auctions/8799/drewea1-10429?categoryCode=SCP



Noel Joseph Desenfans.

Christofero Prosperi.

1811 -12.

Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Images below from Art UK website.

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/noel-joseph-desenfans-17441807-265094

The nose appears to have undergone a somewhat amateur restoration.




















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Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois (1753 - 1811).

Cristofano Prosperi.

Marble bust.

H 49 x W 31 x D 23 cm  

Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Images here from Art UK website

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-peter-francis-bourgeois-17531811-265093













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Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex..

Plaster Bust.

A  plaster model was exhibited RA 1809 (953)


Dreweatts Auctions Newbury.

 Marble Bust, 1811. is at Woburn Abbey, Beds., the marble RA 1812 (935) 
Info here NPG) (note to self the dates need checking!)

see my post on The Hewetson Herm Busts



Images below courtesy -











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Horatia Nelson. (1801 - 81).

Inscribed 'C. Prosperi fecit'.

Essay below lifted from the NMM website.

 exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1812, so shows the sitter at the age of 10 or 11. 

Horatia Nelson (1801-81) was the first and only surviving child - possibly a surviving twin - of Nelson and Emma, Lady Hamilton, conceived in Palermo or Naples and born in great secrecy in January 1801, just after they and Sir William Hamilton had returned overland to England late in 1800. 

She was initially placed in the secret care of a nurse and the lovers constructed an elaborate charade that she was Nelson's god-daughter to conceal her true identity. Her father was supposed to be a fictional seaman called Thompson who subsequently 'died' to make her relationship to Nelson and Emma adoptive. 

After Sir William's death in 1803 she lived with Emma at Merton and, though she later privately recognized Nelson was her father, she never knew the identity of her mother since Lady Hamilton never revealed this. 

Despite earlier rumour it only became incontrovertible with the publication of correspondence between the lovers in 1887, after Horatia's death. 

Just before his death at Trafalgar in 1805, Nelson expressly asked that she thereafter use his name only, which she did and continued to live with Lady Hamilton to the latter's death in Calais in 1815. 

She then returned to the care of Nelson's family (initially that of his sister Catherine Matcham and from 1817 her Bolton cousins) until her marriage to the Revd Philip Ward, later Vicar of Tenterden, Kent, in 1822. Though not greatly resembling her father in youth she later became more like him: a photograph taken about 1860 shows a remarkable resemblance. She and her husband had ten children (though four died in infancy) and Ward informally adopted the family name of Nelson-Ward. He died in 1859 after which she moved to Pinner, Middlesex, to be near her third son, Nelson, who was a lawyer. She died aged of 80 and was buried there, where her grave can still be seen.


https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-64048








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The Authors Photographs of Horatia Nelson.






















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Monument to Captain Peter Parker. (d.1814)

St Margaret's, Westminster.

The usual fine images (not) from Westminster Abbey.

Just low enough resolution so that one cannot read the inscription.

Rather mean spirited I think.









In the pious hope of a glorious Resurrection, pursued through virtue, faith and valour here lie interred the mortal remains of Sir Peter Parker, Baronet, aged XXVIII years, Captain of His Majesty's frigate Menelaus, an accomplished officer and seaman, who after landing with a part of his crew on the coast of America defeated an enemy supported by cavalry and artillery three times the number of his own forces; and in the moment of victory received a mortal wound, under which he continued to cheer his men to follow up their triumph, until, sinking under its fatal result, he fell into the arms of the companions of his glory and bravely surrendered on the field of battle his own gallant spirit to the mercy of heaven. He was the lineal descendant of three distinguished British admirals, of whose virtues and valour he was alike the inheritor. His great grand father was Admiral Christopher Parker. He was the eldest son of Admiral Charles Parker, whose father was the late Sir Peter Parker, Bart. of Bassingbourn Hall, Essex, Admiral of the Fleet, and his maternal uncle was the Honorable Admiral Byron. After fifteen years of active and intrepid toil in the service of his country, emulating the heroism of his ancestry, he thus gloriously closed his earthly career Aug. 3d. 1814. The officers and crew of His Majesty's ship Menelaus, on their return home, in testimony of their deep affliction at the fall of their beloved commander, and of their affection for his memory, have erected this monument, as well to him as to his ship's company, as to attest to future times their admiration of that heroic valour which distinguished him in life and ennobled him in death.

A Latin line follows which can be translated as:

 

There is an appointed day for everyone. For all of us the span of our life is brief and irretrievable but to prolong fame by your deeds, this is the task of virtue. Virgil