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Lot Essay
The present painting was sold in Christie's London in 1809 as part of the 'Very valuable and entire collection of Drawings, and Paintings in Oil, of Sir Robert Ainslie. The Whole of which were Executed by that Ingenious Artist, Mayer, for Sir Robert Ainslie, during his Travels in the Levant, his residence at Constantinople, and his return from thence to England'. Descended from the Scottish family of Ainslie of Dolphington, Sir Robert Ainslie was appointed ambassador to Constantinople in 1775 and took advantage from his position there to travel the Mediterranean.
The Villa Scabrosa was built at the gates of Catania in the 1760s by Ignazio Paternò Castello, 5th Prince of Biscari. He transformed a site covered with lava and abandoned following the 1669 Etna erruption, and 'built houses, laid out a garden, planted trees in earth brought from other places, and formed large ponds of fresh water supplied by springs that ooze through the lava, and well stocked both with fish and with waterfowl' (see the inscription on Bowyer's print). His intention was to create an exceptional spectacle, to tame Nature and to experiment with new forms of beauty (different from the traditional geometrical garden). The Prince of Biscari is known for having introduced French decorative treaties and rococo, as well as the taste for chinoiseries. The Villa Scabrosa fully reflects his original personality.
We are grateful to Dr. Gioacchino Barbera for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot.
The Villa Scabrosa was built at the gates of Catania in the 1760s by Ignazio Paternò Castello, 5th Prince of Biscari. He transformed a site covered with lava and abandoned following the 1669 Etna erruption, and 'built houses, laid out a garden, planted trees in earth brought from other places, and formed large ponds of fresh water supplied by springs that ooze through the lava, and well stocked both with fish and with waterfowl' (see the inscription on Bowyer's print). His intention was to create an exceptional spectacle, to tame Nature and to experiment with new forms of beauty (different from the traditional geometrical garden). The Prince of Biscari is known for having introduced French decorative treaties and rococo, as well as the taste for chinoiseries. The Villa Scabrosa fully reflects his original personality.
We are grateful to Dr. Gioacchino Barbera for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot.