Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery

This late-afternoon view is from what was the Capuchin monastery adjoining the church of San Francesco d’Assisi in the hilltop town of Genzano, southeast of Rome. Palazzo Sforza Cesarini and the church of Santa Maria della Cima are in the middle distance, with the southern end of Lake Nemi to the left and Monte Circeo and the sea beyond. The picture was probably painted soon after Wilson’s return to England and first owned by William Lock, with whom Wilson had traveled from Venice to Rome in late 1751. For a year or two they made further explorations, with Wilson making sketches that he subsequently turned into a finished drawing or, as here, a painting.