PENRY WILLIAMS (1798-1885)

A VIEW ACROSS THE TIBER WITH TEMPLE OF HERCULES VICTOR, SANTA MARIA IN COSMEDIN & THE PONTE ROTTO, SEEN FROM THE CONVENT OF SAN BARTO
Signed & inscribed l.r. Penry W. Rome
Oil on canvas
32 x 40 cm
 
PROVENANCE:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 22.11.1967, lot 14;
Where acquired by Thomas Agnew & Sons, London;
From whom purchased in May 1968 by the previous owner's family
 
 
 
 
 
The present work is one of several variations on the same view which Williams painted, looking across the Tiber from the Isola Tiberina, specifically from the convent church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola. The version of these that is most likely to be the 'prime' is that in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff (NMW A 441), which features a more busy arrangement of staffage, and is dated to 1828; while another similarly-sized version sold at Christie's in 2010. (1)
 
 
The son of William Williams, a house-painter, Penry Williams was christened at Merthyr Tydfil, a town at the Southern edge of the Brecon Beacons in Wales. With the patronage of Sir John Guest and others, Williams was sent to study at the Royal Academy schools, where he was under the supervision Henry Fuseli. He gained a silver medal from the Society of Arts for a drawing from the antique in 1821. Williams exhibited his work at the exhibitions of the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, and the Royal Academy, with thirty-four of his pictures hung at the latter between 1822 and 1869, both portraits and Italian views.
 
 
Williams settled in Rome in 1827, and it was here that he met his partner, the celebrated sculptor John Gibson (1790-1866), with whom it is now believed that he had a romantic relationship for the majority of his time in Rome. Certainly, as Gibson's health declined in later years, it was Williams who took care of him. In 1864 the couple intended to visit Switzerland, but Gibson's health failed at Livorno and they stopped for him to regain his strength. Two years later, the sculptor suffered a stroke, which left him bed-bound. There is a very touching sketch by Williams from this time of Gibson reading a get-well telegram from Queen Victoria, shortly before he died (National Museums, Liverpool, WAG 9874). Upon Gibson's death, he left much of his estate to Williams. (2)
 
 
Williams was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1828, though he worked in oils as much as in watercolour. The majority his pictures are of Italian views and scenes of Roman life, perhaps unsurprisingly, as he spent more than half his life in the city. Williams's studio there was one of the many popular attractions for English visitors, for half a century. He died in Rome on 27 July 1885, and his remaining works were sold at Christie's in the following year.