Andrea Casali & his work for Alderman Beckford

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Alderman William Beckford was a key patron of the eighteenth century Italian painter Andrea Casali, and filled his mansion at Fonthill in Wiltshire with the artist’s work, funded through the profits of transatlantic slavery. Beckford’s son, William, builder of the tower above Bath, demolished the house and sold the paintings. At least eleven of them were upcycled to the Bath area, including four donated to BRLSI in 1824 and five which eventually graced Dyrham Park. 

Dr Amy Frost, Bath Preservation Trust’s Senior Curator and an expert on the Beckfords, sheds light on Casali’s work for Alderman Beckford and explores the circuitous routes to our area that the surviving paintings took.