Lot 46: Jacob More , 1740 - 1793 A View of the Lake of Nemi, anciently called Speculum Dianae , near Rome oil on canvas, held in a painted frame

oil on canvas, held in a painted frame

measurements note 148.5 by 200.5 cm., 58 1/2 by 79 in.

London, Society of Artists, 1777, no. 81

P.R. Andrew, 'Jacob More; Biography and Checklist of Works,' Walpole Society, Vol. LV, 1993, p. 175, no. B.10.i

Poynder Family, Hilmarton;
thence by descent to the late husband of the present owner

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
In this most serene and beautiful landscape, the last glimpse of golden evening light shimmers over Lake Nemi. This view had long appealed to artists and connoisseurs and Jacob More was no exception.

More was commissioned to paint landscapes such as this for the most distinguished patrons, including; Prince Rezzonico, Prince Marcantonio Borghese who commissioned the Landscape with the Metamorphosis of Daphne c. 1783 to hang at Villa Borghese. Following his time in Rome on the Grand Tour, Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry commissioned no less than fourteen such landscapes for his new house Downhill, Londonderry. More was able to charge an astonishing 100 guineas for his paintings, the same as Gainsborough charged in London for his portraits and double the price Pompeo Batoni was able to achieve for his portraits in Rome. However landscapes such as this rarely appear at auction today.

Born in Edinburgh, More moved to Rome in 1773 and remained there until his death. He was not only an acquaintance of Goethe and Canova, who both marvelled at the amazing beauty of his landscapes, but during this time he achieved two of the most prestigious artistic awards available in Italy. He was elected to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and accepted into the Gallery of Artist's Portraits in the Uffizi, where his self-portrait remains today. At the time of his death in 1793 More was heralded by Sir Joshua Reynolds as quite simply 'the finest painter of air since Claude.' But the highest praise came from his native Edinburgh where the periodical entitled The Bee most emphatically extolled More as, 'without doubt the finest landscape painter in the world.'