Lot 79: The Cascade of Tivoli at Sunset, with figures in the foreground; and The Falls of Terni by Moonlight, with figures in foreground

Jacob More (Edinburgh 1740-1793 Rome) The Cascade of Tivoli at Sunset, with figures in the foreground; and The Falls of Terni by Moonlight, with figures in foreground both signed and dated 'Jacob-More Rome 1788' (the first lower right, the second lower left) oil on canvas 80½ x 69 in. (204.4 x 175.2 cm.) a pair (2)

London, Royal Academy, 1789, no. 76, 'Moonlight' and no. 109, 'View near Rome'.
The second only; London, Royal Academy, Italian Art and Britain, 1960, no. 171, lent by Edward John, 8th Earl of Spencer.

Commissioned in Rome by George, 2nd Earl Spencer (1754-1834) in circa 1785-86, and by descent at Althorp, until circa 1980.
Private collection.

Jacob More, known to his contemporaries as 'More of Rome', established his reputation as an outstanding landscape artist through such brilliantly-and dramatically-lit paintings as these. He was one of the relatively few British artists of the 18th century to achieve recognition abroad, surpassing the status of any other British painter then working in Italy. The esteem in which he was held is reflected in his unanimous election to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1781, and in the rare honour of presenting his self-portrait to the Uffizi Gallery, Florence in 1784 (in situ).

More arrived in Rome in 1773, where he remained until his death, first setting up lodgings over the English coffee house in the Piazza di Spagna and later moving to nearby Strada Rosella. He adapted his training as a scene painter in Edinburgh and London to produce dramatic, atmospheric, large-scale views of Rome and the surrounding area. The ancient towns of Tivoli and Terni, with their magnificent Falls, were a particular source of inspiration. More sketched and painted a number of other views of the Falls, some of Tivoli including Maecenas' Villa and the Cascatelle (see P. Andrew, op.cit, 'B.5 Tivoli', pp. 166-170, and 'B.6 Terni', pp. 170-171). Of Scottish birth, More had had the opportunity to depict cascading waters prior to his arrival in Italy; his paintings of the series of The Falls of Clyde, Scotland: Stonebyres Linn (London, Tate); Corra Linn (Edinburgh, National Gallery); Bonnington Linn (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum), versions of which were exhibited at the Royal Society of Arts in London in 1771, are recognised as the culmination of his Edinburgh period.

The present landscapes are contrasted in both light and mood. The series of intersecting diagonals leading the eye back into space and the warm, suffused light in The Cascade of Tivoli create a sense of serene grandeur, and point to the influence of the idealised, classical landscapes of Claude Lorrain (1604-1682). A fellow Scot writing from Rome in 1781 commented, 'My countryman More comes nearest to Claude of any painter I know. Sir Joshua [Reynolds] says More is the best painter of air since Claude' (J. Irvine, quoted by W.T. Whitley, Artists and Their Friends in England 1700-1799, London, 1928, p. 200). The more dramatic composition and perspective, and moonlight effects in The Falls of Terni, in contrast, evoke a sense foreboding, and suggest the influence of the sublime landscapes of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682) and, more recently, Joseph Vernet (1714-1789). Stylistic influences aside, More anchored his works in a first-hand study of nature. Irwin commented that the central portion of Falls of Terni is 'amongst More's finest pieces of natural observation' (1972, p. 777).

Commissioned by George, 2nd Earl Spencer (1754-1834), Whig politician and book collector, when he was in Rome during late 1885 and early 1886, these landscapes were dispatched to England by More in January 1789. In an accompanying letter, More asked Lord Spencer's permission to exhibit them in the next Royal Academy exhibition. It seems likely that the Tivoli view is the work entitled 'View near Rome' (no. 109) and the Terni scene that entitled 'Moonlight' (no. 76) in the summer exhibition that year.

George Spencer was the only son of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (1734-1783) and his wife Georgiana (1737-1814), daughter of Stephen Poyntz of Midgham in Berkshire. He had made a grand tour as a young man, between 1778 and 1780, and returned to Italy in 1785 with his wife, Lavinia (1762-1831), daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan; visiting Bologna and Florence in October, before travelling on to Rome and Naples, where they climbed Vesuvius, still hot from recent eruptions. George Spencer succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father in October 1783. This pair of paintings were hung at Althorp, country seat of the Spencer family since 1508. They were recorded by Neale on the lower part of the Great Staircase (op.cit). Althorp underwent renovation by Henry Holland between 1787 and 1791.