.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Robert Fullarton Udny (1722-1802), of Udny and Dudwick, Aberdeen, was the second, but eldest surviving son of James Udny (d.1761), an Aberdeen lawyer, the third son of Robert Udny (whose wife Elizabeth was the heiress of John Fullarton of Dudwick), who was the second son of John Udny of Udny (d.1665). Udny, a notable tower house, had been in the possession of his family since the late fourteenth century. Like many members of old Scotttish families, Robert Udny sought to rebuild his family's fortune and became a successful West India merchant at a time when the sugar of the West Indies was of immense economic importance. He assumed the additional name of Fullarton on inheriting Dudwick from a cousin in 1786. Although he was recognised as the heir to Udny itself in 1789 he only succeeded to this in 1792. A man of scholarly interests, he was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and, in 1785, was elected to the Royal Society.
Udny visited Rome twice, travelling on both occasions with his wife, formerly Maria Hougham whose sister, in 1769, married -- as his second wife -- Charles, 7th Earl of Northampton, whose uncle, the 6th Earl, had been the subject of one of Batoni's most successful whole-lengths of the 1750s (Clark, no. 208; Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum). On 9 September 1769 they were in Turin, reaching Rome by December and remaining there until 22 April 1770, before travelling back by way of Venice, where they are recorded on 22 May. The Udnys were in Rome again in 1775. While his portrait dates from Udny's first visit, it may have been in 1775 that he patronised Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who, in his Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi of 1778, dedicated two plates to him and a third to his wife.
Udny's younger brother, John Udny (1757-1800) had settled in Venice in 1757, succeeding Joseph Smith as Consul in 1761, and holding that post until he was appointed to Leghorn in 1776. Udny's activities as an agent in the sale of works of art are well documented (see J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, Compiled from the Brinsley Ford Archive, New Haven and London, 1991, pp. 962-3), and were of material assistance to his brother. John Udny formed a notable collection of old master pictures on his brother's behalf in Italy. Robert Udny also assembled a distinguished drawings collection, elements of which are readily traceable, as these bear his collector's mark (Lugt 2248). Both the pictures and drawings, with his substantial library, were kept not at Udny, but in their owner's villa, Udny House at Teddington in Middlesex, to which a picture gallery designed by Robert Adam was added, circa 1790.
After Udny's death, his collection was dispersed: the drawings and library in sales conducted by T. Philipe, the first in a sixteen-day auction from 26 May 1802, the latter over three days from 11 June. The 207 pictures were sold at Christie's, 18-19 May 1804, realising a total of £6,548 15s 6d, and included works by artists of the calibre of Titian. The picture gallery at Udny House was demolished, circa 1825.
Unlike so many of Batoni's British sitters who were in Italy in early manhood, Udny was already 48 at the time he sat to the artist. Batoni would have been fully aware of the importance of satisfying his client, as Udny's Aberdeenshire links must have meant that he knew two key members of the foreign community in Rome, the Abbé Peter Grant, influential in Papal circles, and James Byres of Tonley, doyen among ciceroni. The characterisation of the likeness is bluff and individual; and the costume is realised with the artist's accustomed precision. For the background Batoni repeated that of his portrait of an Irish sitter, Otway Cuffe, 3rd Lord Desart (Clark, no. 336; New York, private collection), with a column on the left and on the right the Temple at Tivoli -- one of the sights outside Rome which most serious visitors sought to see. Since the 1750s Batoni, presumably on demand, had supplied such subsidiary elements for many of his portraits. And Udny clearly sought to be represented as the scholar and cognoscento that he had become. The portrait demonstrates that even at a time when Batoni is known to have been fully stretched by commissions from patrons of the importance of the Emperor Joseph II, he had the artistic energy to paint this fluent, sympathetic and evidently appropriate portrait of a discerning Scottish visitor to Rome.
Udny visited Rome twice, travelling on both occasions with his wife, formerly Maria Hougham whose sister, in 1769, married -- as his second wife -- Charles, 7th Earl of Northampton, whose uncle, the 6th Earl, had been the subject of one of Batoni's most successful whole-lengths of the 1750s (Clark, no. 208; Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum). On 9 September 1769 they were in Turin, reaching Rome by December and remaining there until 22 April 1770, before travelling back by way of Venice, where they are recorded on 22 May. The Udnys were in Rome again in 1775. While his portrait dates from Udny's first visit, it may have been in 1775 that he patronised Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who, in his Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi of 1778, dedicated two plates to him and a third to his wife.
Udny's younger brother, John Udny (1757-1800) had settled in Venice in 1757, succeeding Joseph Smith as Consul in 1761, and holding that post until he was appointed to Leghorn in 1776. Udny's activities as an agent in the sale of works of art are well documented (see J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, Compiled from the Brinsley Ford Archive, New Haven and London, 1991, pp. 962-3), and were of material assistance to his brother. John Udny formed a notable collection of old master pictures on his brother's behalf in Italy. Robert Udny also assembled a distinguished drawings collection, elements of which are readily traceable, as these bear his collector's mark (Lugt 2248). Both the pictures and drawings, with his substantial library, were kept not at Udny, but in their owner's villa, Udny House at Teddington in Middlesex, to which a picture gallery designed by Robert Adam was added, circa 1790.
After Udny's death, his collection was dispersed: the drawings and library in sales conducted by T. Philipe, the first in a sixteen-day auction from 26 May 1802, the latter over three days from 11 June. The 207 pictures were sold at Christie's, 18-19 May 1804, realising a total of £6,548 15s 6d, and included works by artists of the calibre of Titian. The picture gallery at Udny House was demolished, circa 1825.
Unlike so many of Batoni's British sitters who were in Italy in early manhood, Udny was already 48 at the time he sat to the artist. Batoni would have been fully aware of the importance of satisfying his client, as Udny's Aberdeenshire links must have meant that he knew two key members of the foreign community in Rome, the Abbé Peter Grant, influential in Papal circles, and James Byres of Tonley, doyen among ciceroni. The characterisation of the likeness is bluff and individual; and the costume is realised with the artist's accustomed precision. For the background Batoni repeated that of his portrait of an Irish sitter, Otway Cuffe, 3rd Lord Desart (Clark, no. 336; New York, private collection), with a column on the left and on the right the Temple at Tivoli -- one of the sights outside Rome which most serious visitors sought to see. Since the 1750s Batoni, presumably on demand, had supplied such subsidiary elements for many of his portraits. And Udny clearly sought to be represented as the scholar and cognoscento that he had become. The portrait demonstrates that even at a time when Batoni is known to have been fully stretched by commissions from patrons of the importance of the Emperor Joseph II, he had the artistic energy to paint this fluent, sympathetic and evidently appropriate portrait of a discerning Scottish visitor to Rome.