Fontana dello Scoglio

The highly finished drawing is a late one in the series of sixty-eight drawings executed for the Earl of Dartmouth in 1754–55, and exemplifies the French sketching technique that Wilson adopted in Rome. The Fontana dello Scoglio (Fountain of the Rock) is sometimes called the “Aquilone,” since it bears the eagle emblem of Pope Paul V for whom it was constructed in 1611–12, and stands in the Giardino del Belvedere within the private papal gardens of the Vatican Palace. Images of the fountain are rare, and Wilson presumably had gained access to the gardens through Cardinal Albani, a key figure in the artistic life of Rome at this time.