Francis Towne

Francis Towne made this drawing while on a sketching tour of the Licenza Valley, between the towns of Vocovaro and Tivoli. He took this trip with John “Warwick” Smith, whose works hang to the right and above the mantel. Towne carefully noted the date of the drawing on the verso (April 22, 1781) and also wrote the phrase “light from the right hand” in order to orient his application of watercolor when he returned to the studio. Throughout his career, pen and ink outlines remained the most essential element of Towne’s technique, imparting crispness even to the furthest mountains. His elegantly balanced composition and limited palette confer a generalized, almost abstract quality to the scene.