Lot Essay
The subject of this picture is taken from the Aeneid, Book I, versus 314-371. Venus, the mother of Aeneas, appears to her son and his companion Achates, after the Trojans were washed ashore following a storm at sea. Disguised as a huntress, she guides them to Dido's palace.
Nathaniel Dance arrived in Rome in May 1754, and stayed until 1765. At first he concentrated on classical subjects, which were intended for exhibition in London at the newly founded Society of Artists, but his studies in England with Francis Hayman also made him continue his portrait practice, and he developed a style, somewhat reminiscent of his former teacher's, of painting portraits principally of gentlemen who were making the Grand Tour. These often had views of Rome in the background and showed the sitters' interested in connoisseurship with the addition of sculpture, manuscripts or something similar. Sir Henry Mainwaring was in Rome in 1760 and sat to Dance, together with his friend George Henry, 5th Earl of Stamford; in this portrait he is seen showing a cameo to Stamford (see Kenwood exhibition, op,cit., no. 4; private collection). He also appears in a caricature by Thomas Patch called The Voyage from Venus to Pola at Dunham Massey, together with his fellow Grand Tourists Jacob Houblon, the Rev. Jonathan Lipyeatt and the Earl of Stamford. At the same time Mainwaring gave Dance a commission for a large historical painting of a scene from the Aeneid, one of two or possibly three on the subject that Dance was to receive at this time. In a letter dated 31 January 1761, to their father, George Dance, the artist's brother who had joined him in Rome, describes the problems Nathaniel was having with the picture:
'He has had great difficulties to struggle with in regard to the composition, confin'd to only three figures and these all standing. He has made Venus in the act of going away, et avertens etc; her hair w'ch, as Virgil describes, is of the golden hue, flies over her shoulder, waving in the wind, & her garments flow down to her feet in graceful folds......Aeneas is stretching forth his arms eagerly to embrace his mother whom he discovers at that instant. His face expresses surprise & eagerness to speak to Venus whom he so long wish'd to see. Achates stands near him... The background is a Wood, an Opening of which discovers Mountains at a distance likewise cover'd with Woods.'
The picture was finally finished in June 1762, the length of time for its completion being partly due to Dance's method of painting, again described by George in a letter dated 7 October 1761.
'He has endeavoured to please everybody, having alter's over & over again in order to make it as perfect as possible. He has had regard to the criticisms of all the best Painters in Rome. He has studied all the antique firgures that could give him any light... He says himself that he has learned more in the study of the picture than he should have done in painting 20 others in the common way.'
Mention is made of Batoni at this time in the brothers' correspondence with their father. Nathaniel had recently become a partner in the older artist's portrait practice, a development in his career that excited him. 'I am now in such a situation in Rome that I cannot fail of making acquaintance with some of the greatest people of England', he wrote on 3 February 1762. Portraits, often full length and life size, followed of those making the Grand Tour, including the first Royal commission for a portrait of the Duke of York, which came after a visit from Richard Dalton, the librarian to King George III, to his studio. Dance had deliberately held back the delivery of Sir Henry Mainwaring's painting of Aeneas and Venus so that it could be shown to Dalton in February 1763. Another commission for a historical painting followed, of Timon of Athens, Shakespeare's play currently enjoying a revival in popularity amongst artists at the time. The debt that Dance owed to Batoni is evident in the style and colouring not only of his portraits but of his historical paintings when the two artists were working together, and George Dance, writing in October 1761, records Batoni's praise of Aeneas and Venus.
Sir Henry Mainwaring died unmarried on 4 July 1797, when his estate was inherited by Thomas Wetenhall, who changed his surname to Mainwaring. He died shortly afterwards on 4 July 1798, and it is possibly at this time that the picture entered the Langford Brooke collection. It is certainly recorded hanging in the Garden Hall in the 1841 inventory taken following Peter Langford Brooke's death in 1840.
A painting recently acquired by the Tate Gallery of The Meeting of Aenas and Dido was commissioned by George Harry Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford, when he was in Rome in 1763-4. This picture, painted in 1763-5, follows the story on from the present picture and shows Aeneas, having been guided by his mother, Venus, arriving at Dido's palace through the mist, which is seen rolling away through the assembled courtiers. The model used for Aeneas and the helmet he is wearing appear to be the same in both pictures.
Nathaniel Dance arrived in Rome in May 1754, and stayed until 1765. At first he concentrated on classical subjects, which were intended for exhibition in London at the newly founded Society of Artists, but his studies in England with Francis Hayman also made him continue his portrait practice, and he developed a style, somewhat reminiscent of his former teacher's, of painting portraits principally of gentlemen who were making the Grand Tour. These often had views of Rome in the background and showed the sitters' interested in connoisseurship with the addition of sculpture, manuscripts or something similar. Sir Henry Mainwaring was in Rome in 1760 and sat to Dance, together with his friend George Henry, 5th Earl of Stamford; in this portrait he is seen showing a cameo to Stamford (see Kenwood exhibition, op,cit., no. 4; private collection). He also appears in a caricature by Thomas Patch called The Voyage from Venus to Pola at Dunham Massey, together with his fellow Grand Tourists Jacob Houblon, the Rev. Jonathan Lipyeatt and the Earl of Stamford. At the same time Mainwaring gave Dance a commission for a large historical painting of a scene from the Aeneid, one of two or possibly three on the subject that Dance was to receive at this time. In a letter dated 31 January 1761, to their father, George Dance, the artist's brother who had joined him in Rome, describes the problems Nathaniel was having with the picture:
'He has had great difficulties to struggle with in regard to the composition, confin'd to only three figures and these all standing. He has made Venus in the act of going away, et avertens etc; her hair w'ch, as Virgil describes, is of the golden hue, flies over her shoulder, waving in the wind, & her garments flow down to her feet in graceful folds......Aeneas is stretching forth his arms eagerly to embrace his mother whom he discovers at that instant. His face expresses surprise & eagerness to speak to Venus whom he so long wish'd to see. Achates stands near him... The background is a Wood, an Opening of which discovers Mountains at a distance likewise cover'd with Woods.'
The picture was finally finished in June 1762, the length of time for its completion being partly due to Dance's method of painting, again described by George in a letter dated 7 October 1761.
'He has endeavoured to please everybody, having alter's over & over again in order to make it as perfect as possible. He has had regard to the criticisms of all the best Painters in Rome. He has studied all the antique firgures that could give him any light... He says himself that he has learned more in the study of the picture than he should have done in painting 20 others in the common way.'
Mention is made of Batoni at this time in the brothers' correspondence with their father. Nathaniel had recently become a partner in the older artist's portrait practice, a development in his career that excited him. 'I am now in such a situation in Rome that I cannot fail of making acquaintance with some of the greatest people of England', he wrote on 3 February 1762. Portraits, often full length and life size, followed of those making the Grand Tour, including the first Royal commission for a portrait of the Duke of York, which came after a visit from Richard Dalton, the librarian to King George III, to his studio. Dance had deliberately held back the delivery of Sir Henry Mainwaring's painting of Aeneas and Venus so that it could be shown to Dalton in February 1763. Another commission for a historical painting followed, of Timon of Athens, Shakespeare's play currently enjoying a revival in popularity amongst artists at the time. The debt that Dance owed to Batoni is evident in the style and colouring not only of his portraits but of his historical paintings when the two artists were working together, and George Dance, writing in October 1761, records Batoni's praise of Aeneas and Venus.
Sir Henry Mainwaring died unmarried on 4 July 1797, when his estate was inherited by Thomas Wetenhall, who changed his surname to Mainwaring. He died shortly afterwards on 4 July 1798, and it is possibly at this time that the picture entered the Langford Brooke collection. It is certainly recorded hanging in the Garden Hall in the 1841 inventory taken following Peter Langford Brooke's death in 1840.
A painting recently acquired by the Tate Gallery of The Meeting of Aenas and Dido was commissioned by George Harry Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford, when he was in Rome in 1763-4. This picture, painted in 1763-5, follows the story on from the present picture and shows Aeneas, having been guided by his mother, Venus, arriving at Dido's palace through the mist, which is seen rolling away through the assembled courtiers. The model used for Aeneas and the helmet he is wearing appear to be the same in both pictures.