The Villa Madama, Rome, with a Man Seated in the Foreground

The Villa Madama, on Monte Mario to the north of the Vatican, was originally designed by Raphael as a realization of the descriptions of the villas of ancient Rome to be found in the writings of Pliny the Younger; it was completed by his pupils. The arched approach over ornamental fishponds that is still there today can be seen in Wilson's drawing. The sculptor Joseph Nollekens noted that this drawing from nature was “particularly interesting, since it contains Wilson’s own figure, seated on the ground in his bag-wig, making a drawing of Raffaelle’s villa.” The figure seen from the back indeed resembles Wilson in pose, outline, and dress—including a bag-wig—identical with the seated figure in a drawing by Wilson’s pupil Joseph Farington inscribed “Richard Wilson painting from nature in Moor Park 1765.” Here Wilson is seated on Monte Mario, looking out toward Rome, almost directly above what is now the Stadio Olimpico. The view was incorporated by Wilson into his oil painting for the Earl of Dartmouth in 1753, Rome from the Villa Madama.