'Il Mascherone,' a Rocaille Fountain on the Grounds of the Villa Borghese
c. 1754
Medium
Black chalk with touches of opaque white watercolor on blue laid paper
Dimensions
20 × 23.5 cm (7 7/8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83613
Art Historical Context
Richard Wilson, a pioneering British landscape painter, created this delicate drawing around 1754 during his formative years in Italy. Titled “Il Mascherone,” it depicts an ornate Rocaille fountain nestled within the grounds of Rome’s Villa Borghese. At the time, Wilson was absorbing the classical and picturesque scenery that would shape his later work, blending observed detail with an emerging sense of romantic atmosphere. The medium—black chalk heightened with touches of opaque white on blue paper—allowed Wilson to capture both the sculptural drama of the fountain’s shell-like forms and the...