a heightened interest in nature. Like many a great artist
before and since, Wilson was both a man of his time and
ahead of his time.
As a portrait painter, he certainly did not lack patrons and
did quite well financially. But in the clement clime of Italy,
he became less fascinated with the jut of a jaw and the
arch of an eyebrow, and more intrigued with the undu-
lating contours and pleasing prospects of the exurban
Roman landscape. His newfound passion was influenced
no doubt by some of his newfound friends, such as Italian
artist Francesco Zuccarelli, who himself had surrendered
portraiture in favor of landscape painting.
Richard Wilson, The Arbra Sacra on the Banks of Lake Nemi, ca.
1754–56, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
HYLAND
