ABRAHAM-LOUIS-RODOLPHE DUCROS (1748-1810)

A TRIAL PROOF FOR A VIEW OVER THE GULF OF BAIA
Watercolour with pencil over etched outlines on laid paper (w/o margins), with paint tests to lower margin (see fig. A)
31 x 47 cm
 
 
LITERATURE
Cf. Images of the Grand Tour: Louis Ducros 1748-1810 (exhib. cat.), Geneva (1985), appendix II, Catalogue des Vues de Rome et des environs..., Vues du Golfe de Naples à sequins, no.2 (Vue du Golfe de Baye et des Etudes de Neron)
 
 
 
 
 
The present work, with the paintbrush strokes along the lower margin, is almost certainly a trial proof for a print which Ducros produced after a very large painting of the same scene (see fig. I). The print was produced with extensive margins that included a dedication (see fig. II for an example with the margins): 'Vue du Golfe de Baye/ Et des Etuves de Neron/ Dedié et presenté a Mylady Elcho/ A Rome MDCCXC par son T.H.O.S. Louis Du Cros'. It was one of Ducros' staple views, part of a series of five Neapolitan subjects which were offered by his studio at a fixed price. 
 
 
The so-called Stufe di Nerone are natural chambers carved from the rocks, which formed part of the extensive thermal baths benefitting from the volcanic properties of the area. Ducros was in Naples from 1794-98, where he enjoyed the patronage of Sir William Hamilton and Sir John Francis Edward Acton. The person to whom the work is dedicated, Susan Tracey Keck, Lady Elcho (1745-1835), was the wife of Francis Wemyss Charteris, Lord Elcho, who was in Rome with his son Francis in 1790. She was a kinsman of Sir William Hamilton, which might explain Ducros' dedication.