Florence, from the south-east

Details

JOHN WHARLTON BUNNEY (1828-1882)
Florence, from the south-east
signed, inscribed and dated 'John W Bunney Firenze 1863.4' (lower left)
pencil, watercolour and bodycolour on paper
16 5/8 x 28 ¼ in. (42.2 x 72 cm.)

Provenance

with Graves & Pilcher, Brighton, February 1984, where purchased for the present collection

Exhibited

Sheffield, The Ruskin Gallery, Ruskin and Tuscany, 1993, no. 83.
B. Coleman, The Best of British Arts & Crafts, Atglen, PA, 2004, p. 56.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Adrian Hume-Sayer Director, Specialist

Lot Essay

Bunney studied drawing under Ruskin at the Working Men's College, before becoming a clerk for Smith, Elder & Co., Ruskin's publisher. By 1859 he had given up his clerical job, and Ruskin had commissioned him to produce a series of drawings in Italy and Switzerland. When he married in 1863, he settled in Florence, and Bunney worked for Ruskin's St George's Company, recording the architecture of northern Italy, for the rest of his life.
The present drawing shows Florence from a point to the south-east, probably the hill of San Miniato. The bridge in the foreground is the 13th Century Ponte alle Grazie, destroyed in World War II.

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