Lot 102: William Young Ottley (Thatcham 1771-1836 London)

William Young Ottley (Thatcham 1771-1836 London)
Fifteen studies after works in the Upper and Lower Churches, San Francesco, Assisi including: The Martyrdom of St Catherine by Andrea de Bartoli (illustrated); Henry of Hungary by Simone Martini, 1318; a detail from St Clare grieving over the body of St Francis by Giotto ; and Creation of Man by Cimabue
all signed, inscribed and dated 'W.Y.O. del.υt.ab Orig. 1792' or '1793'
three pencil, one pencil, pen and black ink and watercolour with scratching out, nine pencil, pen and black ink and grey wash, two pencil, pen and black ink, on paper, one on two joined sheets, one with watermark FABRIANO with encircled fleur-de-lys, one with watermark encircled (?), one with partial Pro Patria watermark, one with partial watermark
12 3/8 x 13 7/8 in. (31.4 x 35.3 cm.); and smaller (15)

H. Brigstocke, 'A Catalogue of Drawings after Early Florentine Paintings and Sculpture made by or for William Young Ottley in Italy', The Annual Volume of the Walpole Society, Wakefield, LXXII, 2010, nos. 1- 4, 6-8, 11-18, pp.373-378, 380-83 (all illustrated).

WILLIAM YOUNG OTTLEY (1771-1836) AND DAVID PIERRE GIOTTINO HUMBERT DE SUPERVILLE (1770-1849)
(LOTS 102 - 106)

William Young Ottley entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1787 under the tutelage of John Brown (1749-1787), whose studio contents, including 219 drawings, he purchased on Brown's death. From 1791-99 Ottley travelled to Italy, studying, drawing and purchasing works by the Old Masters, such as Parmigianino, Michelangelo and Raphael. The bulk of his collection was sold to Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1823 for £8,000. By 1833 Ottley had become one of the leading connoisseurs amongst his contemporaries, and became Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, a job that he maintained until his death in 1836. There are works by Ottley in many important international institutions including The Vatican, Rome, The Accademia, Venice, The Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, and many private collections, including a group that was exhibited at Hill-Stone Inc., New York, June 2009 and The Fine Art Society, London, July 2009.

Humbert de Superville was the son of a portrait painter, who from the age of eighteen moved to Rome where he lived for almost eleven years, becoming William Young Ottley's assistant. John Sartain (1808-1897) was born in London and produced several of the plates for Ottley's works included in the following lots, learning to draw by copying many of Ottley's works, and through introductions to artists such as John Varley. In 1830 Sartain emigrated to America, settling with his family in Philadelphia where he remained for the rest of his life.

The works in this group were included in H. Brigstocke, 'A Catalogue of Drawings after Early Florentine Paintings and Sculpture made by or for William Young Ottley in Italy', The Annual Volume of the Walpole Society, Wakefield, LXXII, 2010, which also includes details of many that were engraved and published in A Series of Plates Engraved after the Paintings and Sculptures of the Most Eminent Masters of the Early Florentine School..., London, no. 31, 1826.