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Description: | Famous as an expert on art and antiques, Charles Towneley (1737-1805) began collecting ancient Greek and Roman sculpture and gems in Italy. Like most wealthy young aristocrats he had completed his education with a 'Grand Tour', visiting Europe's cultural centres. Towneley is here shown seated in his library with his dog, Kam, dozing at his feet. He converses with M. d'Hancarville, who sits in a red chair in the centre of the composition, behind him stands Sir Thomas Astle and Mr Charles Greville. In reality his collection was distributed throughout his London house but here it has been collected together in one room in order to illustrate d'Hancarville's theories on the evolution of classical art. On the table is Towneley's favourite work, Clytie whom he often referred to as his 'wife'. Another notable work is the Discobulus (second century AD, British Museum, London). This sculpture was added to the painting at a later date by the artist, as it was not discovered until 1791, but it was felt to be such an important addition to Towneley's collection that Zoffany was asked to amend the painting accordingly. At the time of the painting's execution Charles Towneley's collection was thought to be one of the finest in the country and after his death the collection was eagerly bought by the British Museum. However, after the arrival of the Elgin marbles, Towneley's collection was revealed to be mostly copies of Greek statues by Roman sculptors of the first and second centuries AD. Many of these sculptures now reside in the museum basement, making Zoffany's painting a poignant document of art historical attitudes and of individual collecting taste at the end of the eighteenth century. | Subjects: | London) portrait (Charles Towneley); place (Towneley Gallery | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Zoffany, Johann (German painter, 1733-1810, active in England) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8371... | Go to resource |
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