Santo Stefano Rotondo and the Claudian Aqueduct

This copy by John Plimmer is stylistically close to Wilson’s original. It is distinguished by its more heavy-handed tonal values and a slightly mechanical handling of line, characteristic of the copyist. There are a few drawings attributed to Plimmer in the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Brinsley Ford Collection, but the best evidence of Wilson’s influence on Plimmer is to be found in an album of drawings in the Brinsley Ford Collection, probably acquired by William Fitzherbert in Italy in 1768–69. Included among the forty-four drawings in the album are views of Castel Gandolfo and Lake Albano, the Falls at Terni, and the broken bridge at Narni. The drawings collectively reveal Wilson’s strong influence on Plimmer.