After more than 200 years, two classical paintings have been reunited with four others by the same Italian artist at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI).
All six, by the 18th-century artist Andrea Casali, graced Fonthill Splendens, a Wiltshire mansion built in the 1760s by Alderman William Beckford, whose son (also William) built Beckford’s Tower on Lansdown, above Bath.
The pair, ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’, represented by classical female figures, are on loan from the Holburne Museum, Bath. BRLSI’s four ceiling paintings were among a lot of twenty put up for sale in 1801, and by a roundabout route, were eventually donated to the new Literary and Scientific Institution whose first building was completed in 1824.
While ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’ are known to have found their way to Sir William Holburne, whose collection, after his death, formed the original basis of the Holburne Museum, there is no record that they have ever been displayed under the same roof as the BRLSI Casalis since the sale of 1801.
The oval paintings on BRLSI’s Elwin Room ceiling depict four Roman deities: Ceres, goddess of the harvest and agriculture; Pomona, goddess of fruit trees and orchards; Faunus, god of woodland and fields; and Mercury, god of trade, profit, and commerce. They were all thought to be on the ceiling of the dining room at Fonthill Splendens. They were companion paintings to a centrepiece, the Feast of the Gods.
All five ceiling paintings were bought by a sailcloth manufacturer who found he only had space for the centrepiece in his house. Two decades later a founder of BRLSI, Hastings Elwin, heard the four were available and successfully offered £3 each. He then donated them to the institution.
The Holburne Museum’s two paintings from about 1760, ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’, were part of a set of four depicting the seasons.
All these Casali paintings belonged to politician Alderman William Beckford, a wealthy slave plantation owner who was twice Lord Mayor of London. All but one wing of the mansion he built was demolished by 1807.
‘The loan of these two paintings allows us to take a fresh look at the four that have gazed down on BRLSI activities for the past 200 years,’ says Prof Ian Gadd, BRLSI chair of directors. ‘We are extremely grateful to the Holburne Museum for making it possible to show more of the decorative style that is so typical of the era before the institution came into being.’
A special free afternoon talk on Andrea Casali and his work for Alderman Beckford will be given at 3.00pm on 12 September at BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN, as part of Heritage Open Days. The speaker will be Dr Amy Frost, Beckford expert and senior curator at Bath Preservation Trust, which owns Beckford’s Tower, Bath. Free tickets should be booked in advance, at www.brlsi.org/whatson/andrea-casali-his-work-for-alderman-beckford/
Andrea Casali was born in Italy in 1705. He was active in England from 1741 – 1766 when he returned to Italy, where he died in 1784.
Five more of his paintings came to Bath. They were originally donated in 1805 to the newly built Theatre Royal. After gas lighting was introduced they were taken down and eventually sold to Dyrham Park, now owned by the National Trust, north of the city, where they are on show.
To find out more about Heritage Open Days events: Click https://www.brlsi.org/heritage-open-days-events-at-brlsi/
