Edward Lear (1812-1888)

An Italian shepherd

Details

Edward Lear (1812-1888)
An Italian shepherd
inscribed 'Upright lowest right' (on the reverse)
pencil and watercolour, on blue paper
9.5/8 x 5 in. (24.4 x 13.9 cm.)

Provenance

Peter Pears & Benjamin Britten; Sotheby's London, 13 November 1997, lot 131, one of a group of twelve drawings (12,650).
London, Agnew's, English Drawings, watercolours and small oil paintings 1770-1870, 25 February 20 March 1998, no. 72 (where purchased by the vendor).

Lot Essay

Lear left England for Rome at the end of 1837. He travelled slowly through Northern Europe and arrived in Rome on 3 December.

The present drawing was originally sold with a group of eleven other drawings, five of which were dated '8 January-17 July 1838', and three of which were inscribed 'Amalfi' or 'Roma'. Like the present drawing, the other drawings were of Roman peasants in traditional costume. The peasants would gather at the foot of the Spanish steps, near Lear's rooms on Via del Babbuino, where they would wait to be hired as models.
Lear left Rome in May 1838 and spent the summer in the Bay of Naples.

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