Thomas McGeary

Handel as art collector: art, connoisseurship and taste in Hanoverian Britain

andels interest in art has been known since 1776, when Sir John Hawkins wrote in his history of music: Like many others of his profession, he had a great love for painting; and, till his sight failed him, among the few amusements he gave into, the going to view collections of pictures upon sale was the chief .1 William Coxe reported in 1799 that he had acquired a taste for painting, which he improved during his residence in Italy, and felt great pleasure in contemplating the works of art.2 But it was not known whether Handel bought paintings at the sales or what pictures he may have owned, except that in his will he bequeathed two heads by Denner to Charles Jennens and two Rembrandt landscapes to Bernard Granville.3 Only when the sole copy of the 1760 catalogue for the posthumous auction of Handels collection was published in 1985 could we begin to reconstruct his art collection.4 To understand Handel as art collector, I will begin by exploring the London art world of his day and the principles of taste and connoisseurship Handel and his contemporaries would have brought to appreciating and understanding art. Contemporary sources illustrate how Handel and visitors to his house might have responded to specific paintings on his walls. Finally, I will explore what Handels art collection might reveal about him and his artistic personality.
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Building the collection: the London art world Handels London was Europes most active art market.5 With the Restoration of Charles II, a market for art quickly developed in London. Italian painters flocked to England to decorate the great country houses and urban mansions.6 The building boom in Londons West End increased the
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need for decorative paintings for walls, staircases, chimney pieces and over doors. Annually, some 430 imported paintings arrived in England. Great collections were formed, and the English became the most enthusiastic and extravagant collectors in Europe.7 Handel had several means of acquiring paintings. In London, purchasing extant masterpieces imported from the Continent was the largest and by far the most prestigious route. Many Englishmen purchased paintings on their Grand Tours or had friends and agents abroad (such as Consul Joseph Smith or Owen Swiney in Venice) make purchases on their behalf. Handel, of course, could have bought paintings while on his travels in Europe. The principal source for the collector was the auction (illus.1). During Handels years of collecting in London, there were from five to ten art auctions per year, with about 15,000 pictures sold. Most of the turnover involved the sale of relatively inexpensive paintings to customers of modest means. Attending auctions and viewing paintings in artists showrooms was a regular element of Londons lite social life. Collecting and buying at auction were a means of exhibiting good taste and judicious use of wealth, rather than mere luxurious display of riches. Annotations in surviving auction sales catalogues from 1749/1750 identify six paintings purchased by Handel, ranging in price from 2 3s for a small history by Carracci to 39 18s for a large landschape & Fig.s by Rembrandt.8 Dealers accounted for the other 10,000 of the 25,000 paintings sold in London in Handels day.9 In the sales of one dealer, more than half the paintings were sold for between 2 and 10.10
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Early Music, Vol. xxxvii, No. 4 The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. doi:10.1093/em/cap107, available online at www.em.oxfordjournals.org

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1 Handel purchased paintings at auctions, such as that shown in William Hogarth, An art auction (Private collection) (Courtesy of the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art, London)

Many Dutch and Flemish works in Handels collection were likely painted in England. Van Diest, Jan Griffier (Old Griffier), Hondius, Huysmans and Montingo worked there in the late 1600s. Handel may have bought personally from foreign artists who were working in London: Angellis, Canaletto, Denner, Dorigny, Ferg, Goupy, Tillemans, Pellegrini, Marco and Sebastiano Ricci, Servandoni and Watteau. Handel likely met several artists through their work in the London theatre: Goupy, Tillemans, Pellegrini and Lambert painted scenes for the opera houses. Servandoni worked at Covent Garden and designed the structures for the Fireworks of 1749 celebrating the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, for which Handel wrote his Fireworks Music.11 In building his collection, Handel could have had advice from friends or patrons who were fellow colfn1

lectors, including the Earl of Burlington, the Duke of Chandos, Charles Jennens, Sir Robert Walpole and Frederick, Prince of Wales. His travels in Europe would have cultivated his taste through first-hand acquaintance with the greatest collections of the day. He could have talked about art with Mercier, Denner, Goupy, Hudson and Roubiliac, who painted or sculpted his portrait.12 Presumably, Handels collecting dropped off as his sight failed him in the early 1750s and he became blind by 1753.
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Taste and status of painting To understand the art world of Handels time, we must clear our minds of modern art and its theories. For in Handels day, art was valued and judged not for pure aesthetic and visual qualities, ability to shock, or rejection of the values of the art

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world, but primarily for its moral and instructive values.13 The prevailing doctrine was that the arts, each in their own way, must imitate Nature. This did not mean everyday nature as we see it in its individuality with its blemishes, accidents and variations, but la belle nature: ideal Nature, nature as it ought to be in its perfection. For many theorists, the ancient Greeks and modern Italian painters had already achieved this perfection, so imitating Nature meant imitating the best art of the past. The other guiding doctrine was that art must both delight and instruct. At the very least, painting provided pleasure. In 1729, the anonymous author of Apollo: Or . . . the Three Sister Arts described painting as the immediate Imitator of Nature [that] pleases the Fancy, by the agreeable Illusions of Perspective (p.2). The painter Grard de Lairesse describes the pleasures of landscape:
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In serving these higher ends lay paintings claim to be a sister of the other liberal arts. Pleasure was the sugar coating that made the bitter pill of moral instruction easier to swallow. A connoisseur improved by the love of painting was a better moral and patriotic person as well. For Richardson, the connoisseur would have nobler Ideas, more Love to his Country, more moral Virtue, more Faith, more Piety and Devotion than one who did not; he shall be a more Ingenious, and a Better Man.18
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Hierarchy of genres Handel and his contemporaries would have understood art by ranking works according to traditional genres. The hierarchy of genres reflects the capacity of the genre for imitation of ideal Nature and for moral or intellectual content. Richardson is typical in placing history painting highest: A History [and here Richardson includes mythology and portraiture] is preferrable to a Landscape, Sea-piece, Animals, Fruit, Flowers, or any other Still-Life, pieces of Drollery, &c. because history pieces can Improve the Mind and excite Noble Sentiments.19 What a painter could see and copy in everyday life with his brush was a mechanical art that did not exercise either his or the observers imagination. But in a history painting, the painter applied his imagination, classical learning, and knowledge of human nature and passions to paint the greatest creature in creation engaged in heroic, noble and sublime actions; this was the highest achievement of a painter. As de Lairesse put it: The Use [of this noblest branch of painting] lies in handling of noble and edifying subjects; as fine histories, and emblems moral and spiritual, in a virtuous and decent manner; so as at once to delight and instruct (p.62). When Horace Walpole dismissed the literalminded Dutch painters of low-life genre pieces with their earthen pots and brass kettles as drudging Mimicks of Natures most uncomely coarsenesses, it was because their only idleness seems to have been in the choice of their Subjects.20 Although ranked low among the genres, even landscape could aspire to have intellectual content. Swept up in the scientific revolution of Boyle
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[it] is the most delightful object in the art, . . . when by a sweet harmony of colours and elegant management, it diverts and pleases the eye. What can be more satisfactory than to travel the world without going out of doors; . . . even into the Elysian fields . . . What is more acceptable than shady groves, open parks, clear waters, . . . [and] deep misty vallies? . . . how relieving must the sight be to the most melancholy temper?14
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Pleasure, though, must serve higher ends, as another writer asserted:

Music and Painting are the most innocent as well as most exquisite Pleasures [for recreation and refreshment], and are preferable to the Gratifications of our other Senses, because many an useful Lecture may be preachd to us from the Canvass, and it is to the Powers of Sound to conjure up and charm to Peace several of our Passions.15
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George Turnbull, chaplain to Handels friend, Frederick, Prince of Wales, states that the purpose of painting is in the most agreeable manner to teach human Nature; to display the Beauties of Virtue and the Turpitude of Vice; and to convey the most profitable Instructions into the Mind.16 For the painter Jonathan Richardson, the Milton enthusiast and friend of Alexander Pope, The Great, and Chief Ends of Painting are to Raise, and Improve Nature; and to Communicate Ideas; . . . whereby Mankind is advanced higher in the Rational Stage, and made Better.17
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and Newton, Turnbull even makes the case for the instructive power of landscape:
Landscapes are Samples or Experiments in natural Philosophy: Because they serve to fix before our Eyes beautiful Effects of Natures Laws, till we have fully admired . . . and accurately considered [them.]21
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The presence of figures from historical or mythological episodes inserted into what are primarily landscape paintings elevates, to some extent, landscapes into history paintings. Music and painting On how the arts of painting and music might relate, as Sir John Hawkins had observed, Handel was not alone among musicians interested in art and collecting. His contemporaries Farinelli and Corelli both had large and distinguished collections, of which we have surviving inventories.22 The cellist and librettist Nicola Haym and the violinist Francesco Geminiani, pupil of Corelli, were dealers in paintings.23 Music and painting, following Ciceros dictum that All the arts that touch on human affairs have a common bond of union,24 were seen to be based on common principles. Handels friend James Harris voiced the commonplace that music and painting both exhibit to the Mind Imitations . . . of this natural World, or else the Passions, Energies, and other Affections of Minds. Hildebrand Jacob argued that music and painting proceed chiefly from the same Principles, Imitation and Harmony, so that Painting is a kind of dumb Harmony, which charms and sooths us thro our Eyes, as Music does thro our Ears. 25 Some more precise analogies were offered. Charles Avison explained the principles of music by means of its analogies to painting: both were based on geometry and proportion. Design and colouring in painting are analogous to melody and harmony, and the two produce expression in each art. A mixture of light and shade is as necessary as a mixture of consonance and dissonance. There must be a principal figure in all works, and the grand, terrible, tender and passionate styles can be found in both arts.26 John Mainwaring compared the excellence of the handling of the instrumental parts in Handels old Operas to the way the persons in an excellent history painting, being engaged and interested in the same subject, furthered the execution of the principal design.27
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A favourite exercise of theorists of the arts was the paragone: the effort to establish the grounds for ranking the arts. One writer, using the criteria of utility and improvement of our minds versus pleasure and gratification of our senses, ranked poetry highest; whereas music, confined to the ear and unable to affect the understanding, must yield to painting, which can set great and memorable actions before us and instruct the mind.28 The author of Apollo saw music superior to painting, as was the soul to the body, because painting only touches the eyes, whereas musics spiritual and refined immateriality charms the soul by the result of imagination guided by sound judgement (p.3). Jacob ranked painting and music over poetry because they may be lookd upon as universal Languages, being to be understood and comprehended every where.29 Another writer, though, subordinated all three as ornaments to Theatrical Representations, the most perfect of entertainments30a position with which Handel the opera composer might have agreed.
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Role of prints in connoisseurship Handels art collection contained upward of 64 reproductive engravings, which were auctioned off in nine lots. A print collection was an important adjunct to a collection of paintings. For Roger de Piles, nothing is more necessary than good Prints for those who would form their Got by the study of good Things, and have a reasonable Tincture of the fine Arts.31 Without the effort and great cost of amassing a large collection of paintings,
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by means of Prints, one may easily see the Works of several Masters on a Table, one may form an Idea of them, judge by comparing one with another, know which to chuse, and by practising it often, contract a Habit of a good Taste. 32
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Prints brought the possibility of connoisseurship to a broad public. For William Graves, Prints are adapted to all Ages, all Ranks of Men, and all Fortunes; they cost much less than Paintings, the Knowledge of them is more easily attained; and . . . [they] give us an Idea, and, as it were, the Possession of an infinite Number of Pictures, which it would require an immense Sum to purchase.33 Handels print collection consisted of reproductive engravings mostly by artists working in London; that is, the prints were reproductions of topographical
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views, landscapes and famous art worksnot what we might call art prints or artists original engravings, etchings or woodcuts. Suites of large prints, framed and glazed, also served as decoration to carry the wall of a room, hallway or staircase. Even as a means of decorating walls, prints were not inexpensive. Large engravings, coloured, framed and glazed, could cost from 1 10s to more than 2 each.34 Suites of prints were frequently offered for sale by subscription (as were several of Handels opera and oratorio scores); Handel may have acquired his set of the Scott and Lambert engravings of the ports of the East India Company and a set of Goupy landscapes by subscription (which ensured the early subscriber a discounted price).
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Reconstructing Handels collection The principal source of information about Handels collection is the auction sale catalogue. After Handels death, his executor arranged for his collection to be auctioned by Abraham Langford on 28 February 1760. As was customary, the auction was advertised in the newspapers (illus.2), and a catalogue was available for advance inspection.35 Before describing Handels art collection, we must acknowledge several handicaps in reconstructing it. First, the catalogue may be incomplete (despite the advertisement). Portraits are usually a large portion of art collections, and it is puzzling there are only 2 Portraits and 2 Heads in one picture. Some of his prints could have been bound in volumes and sold in a book sale. Handel seems to have given away all portraits of himself. Second, the brief, cryptic nature of the catalogue descriptions (A Landscape with Buildings), the surfn35

vival of numerous versions by a painter of the same subject or design, as well as the likely inaccuracy of some attributions, make it impossible except in several cases to track down likely surviving paintings from Handels collection. (No paintings or prints have so far come down to us with a pasted-on ownership label or stamped monogram.) Third, even considering these limitations, the 18th-century art market was so flooded with copies that, even with precise artists and titles, we do not know whether Handel had the original or a copy (especially of the more important history paintings by major artists). But we need not demean the likely presence of copies in Handels collection. For a connoisseur, it was the invention, design and expression of the artist that were paramount. As John Dryden claimed, a Copy after Raphael is more to be commended, than an Original of any indifferent Painter.36 Jonathan Richardson elaborated the point:
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A Coppy [sic] of a very Good Picture is preferrable to an Indifferent Original; for There [in the copy] the Invention is seen almost Intire, and a great deal of the Expression, and Disposition, and many times good Hints of the Colouring, Drawing, and other Qualities.37
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The paintings and prints illustrated match as closely as possible the painters, genres and titles listed in the sale catalogue. In some cases, we have such close matches that we may presume what is illustrated is at least an artists version or copy owned by Handel, if not the original. Prints can be identified with almost complete accuracy, so that we can presume we are seeing at least a copy of the very print owned by Handel. Topographic views In describing Handels collection, we can best start with the lower genres, and work upwards. Handels collection was rich in reproductive engravings of topographical views.38 Because their goal was to represent an actual view, they had little ability to elevate the mind and constituted a lower, though useful, genre. Handel had two suites of engraved topographic views. Six Sea Pieces was a set of reproductive mezzotint engravings of paintings by Handels contemporaries Samuel Scott and George Lambert that show the forts and settlements of the East India Company,
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2 Advertisement for that days auction of Handels collection in The Daily Advertiser (28 February 1760)

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3 Bombay Harbour from Scott and Lamberts suite of Six Sea Pieces, engraved by Elisha Kirkall (London, 1734) (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum)

4 A View of the City of Malta on the Side of the Cotonere from Joseph Goupy, Four views of Malta, engraved by Antoine or C. L. Benoist (London, c.174560) (London, The British Museum)

5 Handels The Doges Palace probably resembled this copy of a popular and well-known view by Canaletto (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 5 January 2009, lot no.3)

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including Bombay (illus.3), St Helena and the Cape of Good Hope. The paintings were on view in October 1732, and, according to a newspaper report, are highly approved by all who are Judges of that Art.39 The paintings were engraved in 1734 and 1736, the latter by subscription for one and a half Guineas.40 Four Views of Malta was a suite of engravings after Joseph Goupys often-engraved watercolours of panoramic views of the Port of Valletta, at Malta (illus.4), probably published in London after c.1746. Since Handel is not known to have visited any of the places for which the prints would serve as souvenirs, his acquisition of the two sets may have arisen from his friendship or professional associations with the artists in London. Several of Handels paintings and prints were probably souvenirs of his visits to Italy and illustrate places or art works he saw there. The Doges Palace by Canaletto was an extremely popular subject with Englishmen, and Handels painting, probably similar to that in illus.5, no doubt was a reminder of his two visits to Venice (in 1709 and 1729). Handel could have ordered the painting through Canalettos agents in Venice, the former opera impresario Owen Swiney or Consul Joseph Smith, or purchased it from Canaletto either in Venice or during Canalettos two visits to England (174650, 17515).41 No Canaletto painting has a provenance that can be traced to Handel. Handel had two suites that may be souvenirs of churches that he saw while in Rome in 170610 or possibly 1729. Handels prints of art works in Roman churches may alert us that in addition to absorbing and participating in the musical life of Rome under the patronage of Cardinals Ottoboni and Pamphili and Marquis Ruspoli, Handel, like most tourists, no doubt made the rounds seeing the churches, palaces, painting and sculpture galleries and ancient monuments of Rome. Handels countryman Johann Georg Keyssler, in his Neueste Reisen (1751), extolled Rome for the supremacy of the art it offered the connoisseur:
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beauties of architecture, painting, and sculpture to the spectators view.42

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Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz voiced a similar opinion in his Mmoires (1734):
Rome is a City that a young Gentleman indeed ought absolutely to see, for here he will conceive a perfect Notion of Architecture, establish himself in a Taste for Painting and Sculpture, and acquire a true Idea of the Magnificence of old Rome.43
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I have been very particular in describing the churches and convents in this city; but it is what cannot well be avoided in Italy. Should a traveller, in protestant countries, or even in France, run from church to church, and take an accurate survey of them, it would be lost labour, and expose him to ridicule: But in Italy it is quite otherwise; for the religious edifices are, as it were, so many theatres, exhibiting all the

Many travel books of the time remark on the paintings to be seen in Rome, and those for which Handel had engravings were often specifically noted.44 The cupola of the octagonal Chigi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo contains the famous mosaics after designs by Raphael representing God the Creator, the firmament, and allegorical representations of the seven planets.45 The sections of the cupolas ceiling design were engraved by Nicholas Dorigny in 1695; Handel apparently had only the engravings of the planets and firmament (illus.6 shows Jupiter), omitting the plate of God the Creator. For the Jonathan Richardsons, father and son, the Nobleness of the Design evidently appears in Dorignys prints of the planets.46 Also probably visited by Handel was the church of SantAgnese in Agone, in the Piazza Navona, begun in 1652 and consecrated in 1672. Decorating its cupola was one of the most prestigious commissions of the day. The frescoes were begun by Ciro Ferri, a follower of Pietro da Cortona, in 1670 and completed by Sebastiano Corbellini in 1692. The fresco represents Saint Agnes assumed in glory in heaven and presented to the Virgin and Eternal Father; below are a glory of putti and cherubim, Patriarchs and angel musicians. Handel had seven of the eight prints from the suite Saint Agnes in heaven with saints engraved by Dorigny (illus.7 shows the entire cupola). Writing in 1730, Edward Wright declared that the cupola is not the best of [Ferris] Performances and moreover it has been damaged.47 The Richardsons complained the design has many fine Actions of Angels, Saints, &c. and [is] prodigiously Gay, and Light; but so full of Figures, and without any manner of Harmony, that tis Disagreeable: As all Pictures, especially large Compositions,
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must needs be where the Great Masses are not carefully preservd.48 Keyssler reported that in the opinion of some, it is too crowded with saints and angels.49 Handel also likely visited the church of the Santissima Trinit dei Pellegrini, near the Ponte Sisto, which was famous for its altar-piece The Trinity with Christ crucified by Guido Reni, a work of great admiration,50 of which Handel had an engraving by Dorigny (illus.8). Robert Samber thought the painting verged on blasphemy. For although he acknowledged the painting as one of the finest Pieces in Rome, he refused to include a description of it in his translation of Franois Raguenets Roma Illustrata because I would give no Offence to Protestant Ears.51
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6 Jupiter, from Eight of the Planets, after Raphaels mosaics in the cupola of the Chigi Chapel, church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, engraved by Nicolas Dorigny (Rome, 1695) (Courtesy of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums)

7 The cupola of the church of SantAgnese in Agone, Rome, painted by Ciro Ferri, from Saint Agnes in heaven with saints, engraved by Nicolas Dorigny (Rome, n.d.) (London, The British Museum)

8 The altar-piece The Trinity with Christ crucified, by Guido Reni, in the church of the Santissima Trinitdei Pelligrini, engraved by Nicolas Dorigny (Rome, 1702) (Courtesy of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums)

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Genre paintings Low on most authorities hierarchies, despite their obvious popularity with the English, are genre paintings. The usual objection was that, as Sir Joshua Reynolds stated, the Dutch attend to petty peculiarities, and literal truth and a minute exactness in the detail, preventing them approaching the great and general ideas which are fixed and inherent in universal nature.52 Of the popular genre of still-lifes, Handel had but three flower pieces by Johann Ardin of Dsseldorf (possibly acquired by him on the Continent). No example of Handels Two Monkeys in Friars Habits, by the Fleming Pieter Angellis, who worked in London from c.1716 to 1728, has been traced. Scenes of monkeys dressed in the guise of various human occupations (painters, barbers, etc.) were painted by David Teniers, Egbert van Heemskerck, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Jean-Simon Chardin and Christophe Huet, who painted an entire Grand Singerie at the Chteau de Chantilly. While the image carries a suggestion of universal human satire, Handels monkeys in friars habits carried a Protestant tone of anti-Catholicism. According to Bainbridge Buckeridge, such drolls were in vogue among the waggish collectors, and the lower rank of virtuosi.53 Especially popular with the English were Dutch paintings of low-life scenes in inns and taverns, which the English called conversations. Of such group portraits, Handel had what the catalogue called a A Dutch Conversation (illus.9) in the style of Adriaen van Ostade; by David Teniers the Younger, he had A Conversation of Boors (illus.10). William Gilpin conceded Ostade painted admirable representations of low life. They abound in humour and expression, in which lies their great merit. They have little besides to recommend them.54 The Abb Jean-Baptiste Dubos dismissed the genre pieces of Teniers: There is nothing . . . that is capable of moving us . . . [T]hose objects, may possibly amuse us some few moments, may even draw from us an applause of the artists abilities in imitating, but can never raise any emotion or concern.55
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9 Handels A Dutch Conversation in the style of Ostade would have resembled Adriaen van Ostade, A peasant family in an interior (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 6 December 2006, lot no.14)

In the newer French rococo manner, Handel had a pair of galant scenes by Jean-Antoine Watteau (see cover). Gilpin was likewise equivocal about Watteau:
He abounds in all that flutter, and affectation, which is so disagreable in the generality of French painters. But at the same time, we acknowledge, he draws well; gives grace and delicacy to his figures; and produces often a beautiful effect of light.56
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No doubt highly prized by Handel was his pair of Balthasar Denners Old Mans head and the Old Womans head, known from his will.57 The English joined the fashionable craze for Denners studies of heads, and numerous pairs now survive (see the Appendix). Denner first began the Old womans head in Hamburg, brought it to London in 1721 to complete and began a companion Old mans head. The Emperor paid 1,200 ducats ( = 543) for the pair (illus.11a and b),58 which George Vertue thought probably was a higher price than any Painter since the revival of that Art ever had.59 The London Journal (no.113) was
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10 Handels A Conversation of Boors by D. Teniers would have resembled David Teniers, the Younger, Figures gambling in a tavern (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 7 December 2005, lot no.25)

probably referring to Denner when it reported on 23 September 1721:

One of our Painters has lately finished the Picture of an old Woman (the Produce of his Imagination) with such exquisite Art and Judgment, that the Piece is valued at Five Hundred Pounds, and is daily shewn to Persons of Distinction, who go to see it.

Vertue described the heads as

expressing the various Tinctures of flesh the small hairs the wrinckles, the grain. the pores & the Glassy humor of the Eyes (in every part) to the Admiration of All beholders. allowd by Artists & all the Curious to be surpassing all things in that kind yet done.60
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While in London Denner painted another pair of heads,61 which may also resemble the pair Handel acquired (illus.12). Charles Jennens likely was envifn61

ous enough that Handel bequeathed the two heads to him.62 Denner was so esteemed as a portraitist in Germany that Barthold Heinrich Brockes, librettist for the passion set by Handel in (?)1716, wrote two laudatory poems to him.63 We can be certain, then, that Denners portrait of Handel, now at the National Portrait Gallery, is an excellent likeness. Handel also had A Head in the style of Rembrandt (illus.13). If the single head were in an oriental costume, it might recall one of the figures in Handels Israelite oratorios. Gilpin thought His heads are admirable copies from nature; and perhaps the best of his works. There is infinite expression in them and character.64
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11 Handels Old Mans Head and Old Womans Head by Denner, bequeathed to Charles Jennens, probably resembled this pair by Bathasar Denner, purchased by the Emperor Charles VI (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, nos.gg676 and 675)

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12 Handels Old Mans Head and Old Womans Head by Denner, bequeathed to Charles Jennens, probably resembled this pair by Bathasar Denner (Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, nos.595 and 596)

14 Handels Battle Pieceby Tillemans would have resembled Pieter Tillemans, The battle of Belgrade (Chirk Castle, The Myddelton Collection [The National Trust]) (Photo: Photographic Survey, The Courtauld Institute of Art)

13 Handels A Head in the style of Rembrandt could have resembled the Head of a bearded man, in the style of Rembrandt (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, a804)

Of other genre paintings, Handel had Two Battle Pieces by Peter Tillemans (illus.14), who had been a scene painter for the opera house, and a hunting scene by Abraham Hondius (illus.15). Gilpin thought Hondius was free in his manner; extravagant in his colouring; incorrect in his drawing; ignorant of the effect of light; but amazingly great in expression.65
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Landscapes Close to half of Handels prints and about 40 per cent of the 87 or so paintings in his collection were landscapesanother genre popular with the English. The two major traditions of landscape were Flemish/Dutch and Italian. Collectors who could not purchase landscape paintings knew them through reproductive engravings, which the English collected with a great passion. For Roger de Piles, there were two broad types of landscape, le style Heroque, & le style Pastoral ou Champtre. In the pastoral style, nature is seen simple, without ornament, and without artifice (toute simple, sans fard, & sans artifice). Far more esteemed, though, was le style Heroque, the idealized landscape of la belle nature, that rises above depiction of localized nature and draws
both from art and nature all that is great and extraordinary . . . and if nature appear not there, as we casually see her every day, she is at least represented as we think she ought to be.66
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Handels collection of landscapes was so comprehensive that it almost serves as a synoptic history of landscape painting. The classic Italian landscape often pictured the Roman Campagna and the temple at Tivoli. Often in the foreground are groupings of biblical, classical or mythological figures, which in a way elevate what is still primarily a landscape into a history painting, or in the case of Nicolas Poussin even into an allegory. Italian landscape painting had a great impact on English taste, gardening and poetry, as well as painting. The English began to mythologize the landscape of the Thames Valley as equivalent to, if not superior to, the Campagna.67 The painters Claude Lorrain, Salvator Rosa and Nicolas Poussin represent the great Italian landscape styles. The poet James Thomson summarized the received 18th-century opinion of their characteristics:
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Sometimes the pencil [brush], in cool airy halls, Bade the gay bloom of vernal landskips rise, ... Whateer Lorrain light-touched with softening hue, Or savage Rosa dashed, or learned Poussin drew.68
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Of Rosa, Handel had a group of eight landscapes engraved by Joseph Goupy (illus.16). The savage

Rosa excelled in dramatic, irregular, picturesque landscapes with violent weather, exaggerated trees and rocky scenery, and characteristic banditti. In 1739, Horace Walpole tersely described crossing the Alps: Precipices, mountains, torrents, wolves, rumblings, Salvator Rosa.69 The most severely classical landscapist is the learned Poussin, who filled the foregrounds of his stage-set-like landscapes with mythological or biblical figures. On canvas, Handel had a Poussin landscape, as well as a group of four landscapes after Poussin engraved by Goupy and a set of eight landscapes by an unnamed engraver (illus.17). Claude, often regarded as the greatest landscape painter, is noted for his soft-hued, atmospheric, Arcadian or pastoral scenes that recede to a distant, luminous sunset. For some reason, Handel had no paintings by Claude. Generally held inferior to the idealized, classical Italian landscape were Flemish and Dutch landscapes. Of the early 16th-century Flemish school, Handel had two landscapes by Momper, probably by Josse the Elder (illus.18), one by Roelandt Savery, whose landscapes usually feature religious subjects in the foreground, and one by Jan Brueghel the Elder. These Flemish painters produced stylized Mannerist landscapes, characterized by high viewpoints that show panoramic landscapes punctuated by steep rocks and painted with restricted colour schemes of brown-green-blue hues. Naturalism is not its aim. The paintings owned by Handel that have been of greatest interest are his Rembrandt landscapes. Rembrandts later landscapeswith their high viewpoint, formulaic landscape and buildings, and narrow-range brown tonalityare in this Flemish Mannerist tradition (although his drawings and etchings are not). One was a gift from Bernard Granville, Mary Delanys brother (which Handel returned in his will); the other was the large one he bought at auction in 1750 for almost 40.70 Unfortunately, no authentic Rembrandts matching the descriptions of Handels paintings can be traced today.71 Illus.19 shows a landscape in this style that has been attributed to Rembrandt,72 which Handels paintings probably resembled. Lord Chesterfield, applying the Italianate ideal, dismissed Rembrandts landscapes: I love la belle
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16 Salvator Rosas The dream of Jacob would probably have been among Handels eight landscapes after Salvator Rosa, etched by Josephy Goupy (Photo: The Cleveland Museum of Art) 18 Handels A Landscape by Momper probably resembled A mountainous landscape with travellers on a road, by Josse de Momper the Elder and Jan Brueghel the Elder (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 6 December 2006)

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15 Handels A Hunting Piece by Hondius would have resembled Abraham Hondius, Hunting scene (Photo: Courtesy Galerie Fischer, Lucerne; sale 26 November 1996, lot no.2025)

17 Nicolas Poussins Landscape with Orpheus and Euridice, engraved by Etienne Baudet, would probably have been among Handels eight landscapes by Poussin (Courtesy of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums)

19 Handels two large landscapes, at the time said to be by Rembrandt, would have resembled this Flemish-style Landscape with a coach, formerly attributed to Rembrandt and now attributed to Govaert Flinck (London, Wallace Collection, no.p229) (By kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London)

20 Handels a small Landscape by Vangoen, would have resembled Jan van Goyen, An extensive dune landscape (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 7 December 2006, lot no.163)

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21 Handels several sea pieces by Percelles would have resembled Jan Porcellis, Three damloopers in a fresh breeze (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, A354)

22 Handels A Town on Fire was probably a version of Anthony van Borssom, Nocturnal conflagration (Strasbourg, Muse des Beaux-Arts, no.226) (Photo: Muses de la Ville de Strasbourg, M. Mertola)

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nature; Rembrandt paints caricaturas.73 Gilpin thought his landskips have very little to recommend them, besides their effect; which is often surprising.74 A second generation of landscape painters centred in Haarlem after 1612 offers more naturalistic representations of landscapes based on observation of nature itself; these paintings strive for convincing, realistic landscapes. They seem spontaneous and include local details and local colour. Handels A small landscape by Jan van Goyen (illus.20) is an example of the tonal phase of this school of the 1630s and 1640s, in which a limited, unified and almost drab palate prevails. The sky, woods and fields are represented in greys, greens, yellows, browns and blues. Of the other leading tonal painter, Salomon van Ruysdael, Handel had a Landscape and cattle. A favourite Dutch genre, the seascape, also had its tonal (or monochromatic) phase, introduced by Jan Porcellis, of whom Handel had possibly five examples, variously called A fresh Gale, A calm or A sea Piece (illus.21). These might have been reminders of Handels many crossings of the North Sea. Handels nocturnal A Town on Fire was a dramatic subject favoured by Aert van der Neer. Although attributed to Ab. Van Bassan, from whom no similar subjects survive, it was more likely by Anthony van Borssum (illus.22), from whom several paintings of such scenes are extant (see the Appendix). Dutch and Flemish painters could not resist the lure of Italy, and many produced paintingseven of Dutch subjectsin the Claudian manner of the ideal landscape. Of these Italianate painters of the low countries, Handel had landscapes by Herman van Swanevelt, who spent the years 162941 in Italy, Jan Franz van Bloemen (Orizzonte)(illus.23), Adrian van Diest and Nicolaes Berchem (illus.24). Gilpin commended Berchems genius truly pastoral, simplicity of Arcadian manners, and his cattle, which are well-drawn, admirably characterized, and generally well-grouped.75 By his English contemporary John Wootton, Handel had A Sun-set (illus.25) in the manner of Claude. These Italianate Dutch and English paintings substitute for the lack of any landscapes by Claude in Handels collection.
fn73 fn74 fn75

23 Handels upright landscapes by Horizonti probably resembled Jan Frans van Bloemen (called Orizzonte), A capriccio view of Rome (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 6 December 2007, lot no.316)

Ruins Handel seemed fond of paintings of ruins. He had one after the Italian Giovanni Paolo Panini, A large Piece of Architecture and Ruins (illus.26), and at least two ruins by the French-Italian Giovanni Niccol Servandoni, one with figures (illus.27). Such paintings could be souvenirs of Handels early residence in Rome in 170610 and possible visit in 1729. But ruins had more universal and moralistic meanings and evoked a variety of powerful responses. Classical ruinsusually inventions of imaged or real Roman ruins populated by historical or modern figuresserve as a memento mori, much as candles,

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24 Handels Landscape and Cattle, after Berghem probably resembled Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem, An Italianate landscape with figures (Photo: Sothebys Picture Library, London sale, 8 July 2004, lot no.286)

25 Handels A Sun-set by Wootton probably resembled John Wootton, Classical landscape with figures and animals: sunset (New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection B1977.14.85)

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27 Handels several ruins by Servandoni probably resembled Giovanni Niccol Servandoni, Landscape with ruins (Paris, Ecole Nationale Suprieure des Beaux-Arts) (Photo: Bridgeman Art Library)

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26 Handels A Large Piece of Architecture and Ruins after Panini probably resembled Giovanni Paolo Panini, Roman capriccio (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, A725)

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skulls, or sheet music and musical instruments in still-life paintings. In The Ruins of Rome (1740), John Dyer urged the viewer:
Behold that heap Of mouldring urns (their ashes blown away, Dust of the mighty) the same story tell; ... The solitary, silent, solemn scene, Where Csars, heroes, peasants, hermits lie, Blended in dust together; . . . ... Where human folly sleeps. (pp.356)

On the one hand, the monuments were visible proof of the grandeur achieved by the Roman Republic and its spirit of liberty and public spirit, of which Britonswith their constitutional monarchy prided themselves they were a modern realization. On the other hand, ruins showed how fragile a republic was and were a lesson about the fall of a republic due to luxury, corruption and tyranny:
O Britons, O my countrymen, beware, Gird, gird your hearts; the Romans once were free, Were brave, were virtuous.Tyranny howeer Deignd to walk forth awhile in pageant state, And with licentious pleasures fed the rout.80
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Handel set similar sentiments to music in Nicola Hayms libretto for Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724), when Caesar addresses the urn containing the ashes of Pompey:
Thy glittering Trophies, and all thy Pomp of Greatness Were but vain Shadows, like what thou art at present. Here ends the Vanity of Humane Greatness; He who but Yesterday Stretchd oer the World his victorious Arms, Now turnd to Dust, The narrow Limits of an Urn contains. (I.vii)76
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For Denis Diderot, writing in his Salons about a ruins depiction by Henri Robert, the first tenet of the poetics of ruins was a feeling that solitude and silence prevail around us, [that] we are the sole survivors of an entire nation that is no more. Ruins evoke in him grand ideas: Everything comes to nothing, everything perishes, everything passes, only the world remains, only time endures.77 Ruins could lead a sensitive viewer to melancholy. As Dyer continues:
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George Lyttelton (later secretary to Handels patron, Frederick, Prince of Wales) was better pleasd to see Those hallowd Ruins . . . Than all the Pomp of modern Luxury.81 And not least, it was in 1764, while he sat musing in the Church of the Zoccolanti or Franciscan friars, as they were singing Vespers in the Temple of Jupiter on the ruins of the Capitol that Edward Gibbon determined to write his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.82
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History painting At the summit of the hierarchy of genres was history painting. Also considered under history were mythology, fables and biblical stories; landscapes with historical subjects in the foreground might also be considered history painting. Richard Steele devoted an essay (The Tatler, no.209, 10 August 1710) to elaborating the most solid Advantage[s] of History painting. From a good History-Piece, he said in another essay, the viewer could receive an instructive Lecture from strong Images of Virtue and Humanity (The Spectator, no.226, 19 November 1711). Henry Feltons comments, in A Dissertation on Reading the Classics (1713), about the benefits of studying the classics, could apply equally well to history paintings, or even the operas Handel composed for the London theatre:
[You] will meet with great and wonderful Examples of . . . Virtue in the Greeks and Romans, with many Instances of Greatness of Mind, of unshaken Fidelity, Contempt of humane Grandeur, a most passionate Love of their Countrey, Prodigality of Life, Disdain of Servitude, inviolable Truth, and the most public disinterested Souls that ever

There is a kindly mood of melancholy, That wings the soul, and points her to the skies; ... How musical! when all-devouring Time, Here sitting on his throne of ruins hoar, While winds and tempests sweep his various lyre, How sweet thy diapason, Melancholy! (36)

Or in the case of Joseph Addisons Letter from Italy (1703), to thoughts of sublimity:
How dos [sic] the mightly Scene my soul amaze When on proud Romes Immortal seats I Gaze, Where piles of Ruine scatterd all around, Magnificently strow the pompous ground! An Amphitheaters transcendant height Here fills my Eye with terrour and delight.78
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For Englishmen especially, the sight of Roman ruins taught lessons they applied to themselves.79
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threw off all Regards in comparison with their Countreys Good. (p.18)

Mythology and fables, although fictional, were, nonetheless, according to the Abb Banier, invented to convey Lessons of Morality under an insinuating Veil.83 William King concurred that many Principles of Morality and Policy may be gathered from the antient Fables.84 Of mythological subjects, Handel had a Rape of Proserpine by an unidentified painter. Of Rubenss painting Diana hunting a deer, Handel had an etched version by Goupy (illus.28), whose original was at the time owned by Sir Robert Walpole (now lost). Handel wrote an instrumental cantata on the subject Alla caccia (Diana cacciatrice). Of Rubenss hunt scenes, Gilpin waxed enthusiastic: [They] are undoubtedly superior, upon the whole, to any thing of the kind we have. There is more invention in them, and a grander style of composition than we find any where else. But the reproductive engravings such as Goupys fail to capture the spirit of Rubens:
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But all their engravings are poor. They resemble the paintings they are copied from, as a shadow does the object, which projects it. There is something of the shape; but all the finishing is lost. And indeed there is no doubt, but the awkwardnesses, the patch-work, and the grotesque characters, which every where appear in those prints, are in the originals bold fore-shortnings, grand effects of light, and noble instances of expression.But it is as difficult to copy the flights of Reubens, as to translate those of Homer. The spirit of each master evaporates in the process.85
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Handel had a painting on the fall of Troy, variously titled The Sacking of Troy (attributed to Pietro da Cortona) when Handel bought it at auction, and The Siege of Troy (attributed to Poussin) in the sale catalogue. No painting on that subject is known by either painter. Handels Narcissus in a Landscape, by Pier Francesco Mola, is probably the painting (or a copy of it) now in the Ashmolean Museum (illus.29). In its first season, the Royal Academy of Music presented an opera on the myth of Narcissus. According to the Abb Banier, the story of Narcissus exposed the

28 Diana hunting a deer, painting by Peter Paul Rubens, etched by Joseph Goupy (London, The British Museum)

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30a Handels Venus and Adonis by Seb. Ricci could have been a copy or version of Sebastiano Riccis oil sketch, Venus bidding farewell to Adonis (Orlans, Muse des Beaux-Arts) (Photo: Franois Lauginie)

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29 Handels Narcissus in a Landscape by Fr. Molawas probably the painting, a version, or copy of Pier Francesco Mola, Echo and Narcissus (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, no.A872)

30b Handels Venus and Adonis by Seb. Ricci could have been a copy or version of Sebastiano Ricci, Venus adorning Adoniss hair with flowers (Photo: Sothebys, Monaco sale, 21 June 1986)

Folly of Self-love, when it exceeds due Bounds and exposed the results of Narcissuss disdain to all Persons who conceived an Affection for him, resulting in the death of the nymph Echo.86 From the story of Venus and Adonis, Handel had one of Sebastiano Riccis several versions (see the Appendix). One shows Venus bidding farewell to the ill-fated Adonis (illus.30a), while another shows her adorning the hair of a reclining Adonis with flowers (illus.30b). Handel set a cantata (Behold, where Venus weeping stands) about the outcome of the VenusAdonis story. Handels painting on the subject of Bacchus and Ariadne was by Cornelis van Poelenburgh, of which several versions exist (see the Appendix). His treatments of the subject show Ariadne greeting him (illus.31a) or rescued by him (illus.31b) as reward for her constancy to the unfaithful Theseus; elsewhere in the paintings is a bacchanalia. Handels
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1733 opera Arianna dealt with Ariadnes earlier adventure in Crete. An allegorical drawing for a harpsichord lid by Sir James Thornhill, Peace introduces Arts & Sciences, who sacrifice to Apollo (illus.32), is said to have been for Handels harpsichord.87
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Erotica Certain mythological subjects in which female divinities and mythological figures were conventionally identified by being nude were pretexts for erotica, a genre not unknown in the gentlemans cabinet or private rooms. Charles Lamotte lamented that painting and poetry have often been prostituted to the vilest and most shameful Ends. As examples of obscene paintings in the Palazzo Farnese, he cites the Loves of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Ganymede, and other shameful Nudities, done by the famous Caracci. Even biblical scenes,

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31a Handels Bacchus and Ariadne by Poelenburgh could have been the painting, a version, or a copy of Cornelis van Poelenburgh, Bacchus and Ariadne (Pavlovsk, Palace Museum, no.240) (Photo: Amy Golahny)

31b Handels Bacchus and Ariadne by Poelenburgh could have been the painting, a version or a copy of Cornelis van Poelenburgh, Bacchanalia (with Bacchus and Ariadne fleeing in the lower right) (Toulouse, Muse des Augustins) (Photo: Daniel Martin, 2002)

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32 The lid of Handels large harpsichord may have been painted after this drawing by Sir James Thornhill, Peace introduces Arts & Sciences, who sacrifice to Apollo (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, PD.71954) (The Fitzwilliam Museum)

33a Handels Venus and Cupid, in an oval by Carracci may have been a copy of this painting by Annibale Carracci (Modena, Galleria e Museo Estense) (Photo: Bridgeman Art Library)

he complained, were being done in a lewd and lascivious manner.88 In 1741, two English travellers could protest that in the bed-chambers of Roman homes, one encounters very often the Figures of naked Women and other lewd Representations
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33b Handels Venus and Cupid, in an oval by Carracci may have been a painting after this widely circulated engraving by Agostino Carracci, by Hendrick Goltzius, c.1600 (Photo: Princeton University Art Museum)

that can scarce be looked on without a Breach of Modesty.89 In public rooms, the paintings might be discretely covered by a curtain, as in
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34 The Jupiter and Dana and Jupiter and I in watercolours (probably by Goupy) in Handels collection may have been copies of these engravings of the same subjects by Jacopo Caraglio (Rome, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, nos. fc 5940 and 5925)

William Hogarths After the marriage from Marriage-a-la-mode. In this vein of mild erotica, Handel had a Venus and Cupid, by one of the Carracci. It could be a version or copy of Annibale Carraccis painting (illus.33a) or possibly a painting after a well-known Agostino Carracci design as engraved by Hendrick Goltzius (illus.33b). Jupiter was notoriously the most rapacious of the gods, who in various guises seduced female mortals.90 The auction catalogue lists four watercolours about the amours of Jupiter: Jupiter and Leda, Jupiter and Dana, Jupiter and I and Jupiter and Ixion. The first three are among the Loves of Jupiter. Handels 1744 oratorio Semele dealt with the tragic fate of yet another of Jupiters victims; in Handels pasticcio Giove in Argo (1739), Jupiter wanders in Arcadia trying to seduce Iside and Calisto. The painter of Handels Loves of Jupiter is unidentified, but is quite likely Handels friend Joseph
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Goupy, who specialized in making copies of Old Masters in watercolours, pastel or by etching/engraving. Handels friend and patron, Frederick, Prince of Wales, also had a set of four Loves of Jupiter by Goupy, consisting of Jupiter and Dana, Leda, Io and Europa.91 The Loves of Jupiter counted among Lamottes nudities, and Goupy compiled what he called my Book of Nudities and sold various nudities for 15 guineas.92 Goupy could have taken as his models any of many famous paintings, such as Tintorettos Leda and the swan and Jupiter and Dana or Correggios scenes of Jupiter with Dana, Leda and Io.93 Or he may have made watercolour copies of the notoriously obscene sets of prints by Giulio Romano and Jacopo Caraglio (illus.34).94 No examples of these subjects by Goupy have been located.
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Biblical histories More serious than fables were subjects from the Bible. Of biblical histories, the Goupy Hagar and

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tramples on Pharaohs crown and Susanna and the Elders.95 Handels painting of Pharaohs daughter finding Moses in the rushesdescribed as A Landskip with Moses in the Bullrushes by Parrocel senior, when he bought it, and A Landscape with a bridge, and the finding of Moses, in the sale catalogueis likely a copy or version of Louis Parrocels Moses rescued from the water (illus.38).96
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Roman history Most prestigious were subjects from Roman history. Such paintings offer for emulation the same sorts of heroes and examples of civic virtue contained in the plots of Handels Italian operas. Handels Two History Pieces by Pellegrini, instead of biblical stories, might have been pairs of subjects from classical history, such as his Alexander and the body of Darius and Alexander and the family of Darius.97 Handel had two watercolours of subjects from Roman history painted by his friend Joseph Goupy: the blind Belisarius receiving alms and Mucius Scaevola before Porsenna. Both were also in the collection of Handels friend and patron, Frederick, Prince of Wales.98 Several Goupy versions of each subject are known today (see the Appendix), so Handels copies may be among them. The original for Goupys Belisarius (illus.39) was the well-known painting then thought to be by Anthony van Dyke and owned by the Earl of Burlington, which he is said to have been bought in Paris in 1715 for 1,000.99 Goupy produced several versions and charged 52 10s for one of them.100 Belisarius, the greatest Roman general under the Emperor Justinian, was falsely accused of conspiracy against the emperor. In a popular, though possibly fictional, account, he was blinded, deprived of his property and forced to wander the streets of Constantinople begging for alms. The story is usually illustrated, as in Goupys watercolour, at the moment he is recognized by one of his former soldiers.101 For Charles Lamotte, the faces in the van Dyke painting express Surprize, Amazement, Indignation, Pity, and Compassion at the disgrace of Belisarius. In a fine Stroke and noble Flight in the Painter, the pensive soldier in a melancholy posture seems to say to himself, And is this to be my Fate after forty Campaigns?102
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35 Handels Hagar and Ishmael by Goupy was probably the painted original for Goupys etching Hagar, after Salvator Rosa (Photo: Courtesy Turner Print Museum, California State University, Chico)

Ishmael was likely adapted from Salvator Rosas painting of that subject. It may have resembled the Rosa original, now at Toledo (see the Appendix), or more likely be the model for Goupys etching of the same subject (illus.35). Of Francesco Solimenas The Flight into Egypt, Handel had a copy engraved in 1724 by Bernard Baron in London (illus.36). The Sampson and Dalilah by Giovanni Pellegrini could be the painting formerly known in a collection in Venice (illus.37). Handels oratorio Samson, however, deals with the end of Samsons life, not the early episode illustrated by Pellegrini. Pellegrini painted numerous pairs of biblical histories, so Handels two histories by Pellegrini could have been such as The infant Moses

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36 Francesco Solimena, The rest on the flight into Egypt, engraved by Bernard Baron, London 1724 (London, The British Museum)

The episode was commonly held up as a reminder of the ingratitude princes are capable of towards virtuous servants. John Oldmixon wrote there never was an Example of greater Ingratitude than Justinians to Belisarius. It is a Lesson to all Princes and States [that Justinian] could not defend himself against the Artifices of a Faction in working the Ruin of a Man who best deservd the Name of a Roman, and by that [failure] has left a Stain on his Character which all the good Actions of his Life can hardly wipe off.103
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For Lamotte, the fate of Belisarius taught that Princes are common who will sometimes forget the greatest Services, and resent and punish the slightest Faults, and smallest Indiscretions (p.168). Edward Gibbon wrote the episode is a strange example of the vicissitudes of fortune.104 In his epigrams on famous paintings, John Elsum pointed the caution:
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Great was thy Merit, but thy [Fate] hard, A sorry Hapenny thy best Reward.105
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37 Handels Sampson and Dalilah by Pellegrini was probably the painting, a version or copy of Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Samson and Delilah (formerly in the Pospisil-Duckett Collection, Venice)

Panini painted the subject set among ruins,106 which would emphasize the lesson of the transience of fame and glory. Handel also had one of Goupys versions of the story of Mucius Scaevola (illus.40). Handel set the third act of a libretto on the subject in 1721 for the Royal Academy of Music. In 509bc, Porsenna, King of the Etruscans, besieged Rome with hopes of conquering the starving city and restoring Tarquin (whose son raped Lucretia) as king. Mucius disguised himself in Tuscan robes and infiltrated Porsennas court in the hope of assassinating him, but stabbed his secretary by mistake. Seized by the guards and brought before Porsenna, he burned his right hand in an altar fire
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to demonstrate his fortitude and told Porsenna that 300 other equally determined Romans had entered his camp, each avowed to assassinate him. (This action occurred in the second act of the opera.) Astonished at the courage of Mucius and what the Romans would suffer on their countrys behalf, Porsenna made peace with Rome.107 The story of Mucius Scaevola is a classic exemplum virtutis that serves as a lesson of self-sacrifice in preserving the Roman Republic. John Elsum pointed the moral:
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This Brave had rather die than not live free, Whats Life and Limb worth under tyranny?108
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Charles Rollin, though, was ambivalent about the storys moral: The undauntedness and firmness of Mucius are in themselves very praiseworthy,

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38 Handels painting (variously titled) of the finding of Moses in the bulrushes was probably the painting, a version or copy of Louis Parrocel, Moses rescued from the water (Photo: Tajan, sale 22 March 2002, no.149)

but as an action contrary to all laws of war their motive and object render them very criminal.109 For this subject, one of his own few original designs, Goupy charged one client 42.110 Gilpin probably would have thought this excessive, for he pointed to this painting as an example of Goupys poor handling of figures, indelicacy of outline [and] bad drawing.111
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graph note of stage action, in the score of the otherwise non-staged Belshazzar (1744), is well known:
as he is speaking, a Hand appears writing upon the Wall over against him: he sees it, turns pale with fear, drops the bowl of Wine [,] falls back in his seat trembling from head to foot, and his Knees knowking [sic] against each other.112
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Summary Surveying Handels art collection prompts some observations to be made about him and his artistic personality. 1 His large and diverse collection suggests Handel had a well-developed visual imagination. His auto-

We might, then, be alert for other instances of visual imagination at work in his musical dramatic works. However, in Handel scholarship, the tradition of paintings of biblical subjects has been unduly neglected as an important background and context for his oratorios. 2 We might think of Handels social life revolving around the directors and musicians at the opera house, his singers, the father and son John C. Smith

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39 Handels Belisarius, after Van Dyck, in Water Colours by Goupy would have resembled this pastel version by Goupy (Private collection)

40 Handels Mucius Scaevola by Goupy could have been this or a similar version of this watercolour by Goupy (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library and Art Collections, no.33.7)

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and his partner J. J. Heidegger. But his art collection suggests one prominent element in his social network must have been a shared passion for art. His early patrons the Earl of Burlington and the Duke of Chandos also collected paintings. His librettist Charles Jennens amassed a huge collection of upwards of 460 paintings.113 Frederick, Prince of Wales, also collected art, andlike Handelhad numerous watercolour copies by Goupy; Fredericks portrait of Handel by Goupy is now lost.114 Handels pupil Anne, the Princess Royal, had a talent for painting.115 His long-time friend Mrs Mary Delany was an amateur watercolourist, who took drawing lessons from Joseph Goupys uncle, among others, and was promised lessons by William Hogarth.116 Hence, we might imagine Handel engaging in talk about art with his friends or while he sat for his own portraits by Mercier, Denner and Hudson. 3 Handels choice of two paintings probably reflects his charitable interest towards foundlings. Handels paintings of Old Testament episodes, Hagar and the angel and the finding of Moses in the bulrushes, correspond to two of the four paintings installed in the Court Room of the Foundling Hospital in 1746: Hagar and Ishmael by Joseph Highmore117 and The finding of the infant Moses in the bulrushes by Francis Hayman.118 Handels paintings show one aspect of charity: the rescuing of abandoned children. In the first, Hagar, expelled to the desert with Ishmael and famished from thirst, having cast aside the child because she wants not to see him die, is shown a spring by the angel. In the second, Moses, set afloat among the rushes by his mother to evade the Pharaohs edict on the sons of the Hebrews, is rescued by Pharaohs daughters compassion for an abandoned child. Both episodes are instances of Gods special mercy upon forsaken children: such scenes should excite pity for the abandoned child and demonstrate that those rescuing forsaken children have Gods favour. They teach, as the biblical commentator Matthew Henry wrote, Tis very commendable in persons of Quality to take Cognizance of the Distresses of the meanest, and to be helpful and charitable to them.119 4 The large number of prints and drawings by Joseph Goupy that Handel kept until his death must make us reconsider the seriousness of their supposed feud, or at least its significance for Handel.
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5 While the Victorians may have canonized Handel for his biblical oratorios, the historical paintings and ideal landscapes in his art collection should direct attention to a strong classical component in his intellectual and artistic imagination and orientation. 6 The likelihood of copies of paintings and the large number of reproductive engravings in Handels collection, and the important role of prints in an art collectionat a time well before the Cult of Genius and original compositionshould make us reconsider the supposed stigma of Handels own borrowings from other composers. 7 There are three intriguing features of Handels collection as sold at auction. First, it has but 2 Portraits and 2 Heads in one picture. By comparison, more than one-third of the inventories of Matthew Priors art collection was comprised of portraits, and Alexander Popes collection had about the same proportion. The English were often disparaged for their great passion for collecting portraits,120 and this preponderance in Priors and Popes collections was normal for English collections.121 If, in fact, Handels collection was so devoid of portraits, we might wonder why, unlike others, he did not want to memorialize the friendships of his private life, and the musicians, librettists and patrons of his professional life. Second, even though Handel might have encountered William Hogarth in his activities with the Foundling Hospital, his collection lacks any prints by Hogarth, whose paintings and prints Handel must certainly have been aware of and whose prints were among the most important of those published in Handels day. It may be that with his traditional, classical orientation Handel, like his friend and patron Prince Frederick, had little interest in or sympathy with the satiric-narrative-realist style represented by Hogarths prints on modern moral subjects, and preferred instead reproductive engravings of history pieces and classical Italian landscapes after Raphael, Poussin, Rosa and Reni. One explanation for both points may be that the auction catalogue does not completely represent Handels art collection (despite the auctioneers claim). Handels executor may have returned the portraits to the sitters. Prints could also be bound in volumes, and the bound portion of Handels print
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collection might have contained Hogarth prints that were sold as part of his library. Third, Handels collection has few religious subjects: just the Hagar and the angel, the finding of Moses, the prints of the rest on the flight into Egypt and the Guido Reni altar-piece, and possibly a pair of biblical histories. By comparison, one-third of Corellis collection of 142 paintings were on religious subjects (Old Testament, New Testament and saints); Charles Jennenss collection contained 27 per cent religious subjects, with 60 per cent of those New Testament subjects.122 The relative lack of religious paintings probably reflects a Protestants fear of idolatry. Protestant churchmen and some art collectors were suspicious of sacred images. John Calvin had instilled a distrust of them as leading to idolatry, and Anglican churches shunned devotional or sacred images and had periodic episodes of iconoclasm. Many art collectors and theorists, however, argued that subject matter was irrelevant when artistic connoisseurship was the object.123 So by collecting mostly Old or New Testament histories and avoiding images of the Virgin Mary, saints, false miracles, or representations of Catholic doctrine, Handel nonetheless escaped the suspicion of idolatry.
fn12 fn123

8 To offer a summary characterization of Handels collection: it is not the learned collection of a connoisseur. It lacks examples from many important painters and their schools; his print collection (assuming it is complete) shows no attempt to compile a comprehensive history of print-making, painting or sculpture; and he shows no interest in the most subtle aspect of connoisseurship, collecting Old Master drawings. Seemingly, he bought paintings that appealed to him, and took the opportunity to purchase or commission paintings and prints from artists he would have met or worked with professionally. Like his friend and patron, Frederick, Prince of Wales, he favoured Joseph Goupy with numerous commissions. Finally, it has been argued that English interest in collecting art ultimately derived from a process of cultural unification of the upper ranks of English society that allowed aristocracy and middling ranks to identify a set of common interests and attitudes.124 If so, we can see Handels interest in collecting art as one facet of his naturalization and socialization as an English gentleman, and a way of joining with the interests of the aristocrats, the gentry and the upper class of his adopted homeland.
fn124

Thomas McGeary has written extensively about the reception of Italian opera, singers, and Farinelli in early 18th-century Britain. He has completed a book-length study on the satire and politics of Italian opera in the era of Handel, Pope and Walpole. thomas_mcgeary@hotmail.com

Appendix

Handels art collection

Two Monkeys in Friars Habits, by Angeles (20) Ardin (Arding, Hardin, Arsing), Johann Friedrich (early 18th century, Dsseldorf) Miniaturist. Two Flower Pieces, Ardine (16) A Flower Piece, Ardine [? also by him] a Landscape (22) (after) Berchem, Nicolaes Pietersz. (162083; Dutch) Prolific second-generation Italianist (see also Griffier). A Landscape and Cattle, after Berghem, by Old Griffier (24) Bloemen, Jan Frans Van (called Orizzonte) (16621749; Flemish) Painter of Italianate landscapes.

Text in boldface is transcribed from the auction sale catalogue. Numbers in parentheses are lot numbers.

Paintings, watercolours, pastels

Andrea, S. (early 18th century; Italian or German) Otherwise known only for a portrait of J. F. Lampe. S. ANDREA A Lamp-light (33)

Andrea Del Sarto, see Sarto Angellis, Pieter (16851734; Flemish) Active in England c.171628; popular for conversation pieces, rustic and urban genre scenes.

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HORIZONTI HORIZONTI HORIZONTI

A Landscape (50) An upright ditto [Landscape] (41) Its Companion (42)

Carracci, ed. D. Benati and E. Riccmini (Milan, 2006), cat. no. v.5, p.244 (ill.); and M. G. Bernardini, The Estense Gallery of Modena: a guide to the history and the art collections (Milan, 2007), no.24 (ill.). (b) A painting after a widely circulated engraving by Hendrick Goltzius of Venus and Cupid by Agostino Carracci; see The illustrated Bartsch, ed. W. L. Strauss (New York, 1978), iii, no.257 (ill.). Cortona, Pietro da (15961669; Italian) The Sacking of Troy by P. da Cortona, bought by Handel at auctiona for 7 0s = (?) N. Poussin, The Siege of Troy (below)
fn125

Borssom, Anthony van (163177) Dutch landscape painter and draughtsman. A Town on Fire, by Ab. Van Bassan (18) (Probably misattributed to van Bassan, who mostly did architectural interiors.) Probably a version or copy of Noctural conagration, by Anthony van Borssom: (a) A version (illus.22) is now at the Muse des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg, inv.226 (58 48 cm); see Peinture amande et hollandaise, XVeXVIIIe sicle (Strasbourg, 2009), no.112, p.174 (ill.). (b) Another version was sold at Sothebys New York, 30 January 1998 (Important Old Master paintings) (37.5 51.4 cm), lot no.154 (ill.), there attributed to Aert van der Neer; see Wolfgang Schulz, Aert van der Neer (Doornspijk, 2002), no.1419, g.312 (ill.), who attributes it to van Borssom. Brueghel, Jan, the Elder (Velvet Brueghel) (15681625; Flemish) Painter of small-scale landscapes, still-lifes and history pieces. V. BRUEGHEL A small Landscape (57)

Denner, Balthasar (16851749; German) Active in England, 17218; renowned for his character heads of wrinkled old men and women. Old Mans head and the Old Womans head, bequeathedb to Charles Jennens
fn126

Handels pair could have been, or resembled any of the several surviving pairs of old womans and old mans heads: (a) The versions sold to the Emperor Charles VI (dated before 1721 and 1726) are at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, nos.gg675 (Old Woman) and gg676 (Old Man) (both 37 31.5 cm)(illus.11); G. Feigenbaum, Head studies by Balthasar Denner (M.A. Thesis, Oberlin College, 1975), nos.37 and 38. The rst was purchased by an agent of Charles in London, 1721; the second, commissioned in 1725 by Charles. (b) A pair is found at the Herzog Anton UlrichMuseum Kunstmuseum, Braunschweig: nos.595 (Old Man) and 596 (Old Woman) (both 37 32 cm)(illus.12); Feigenbaum, Head studies by Denner, nos.3 and 4 (considers not a pendant pair). (c) A pair is found at the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, nos.260 and 261; Feigenbaum, Head studies by Denner (both 36 30 cm), nos.34 and 35. (d) A pair is found at Schleissheim, nos.1427 and 1426; Feigenbaum, Head studies by Denner (both 36 30 cm), nos.29 and 30. (e) A pair is found at the Pinakothek, Munich: nos.535 (Old Woman) and 534 (Old Man) (not in Feigenbaum).

Canaletto (Canal), Giovanni Antonio (1697 1768; Venetian) Most eminent view painter of the century; active in England, 174650, 17515. CANNALETTI The Doges Palace (63)

Cantarini, Simone (161248; Italian) CANTARINI Two Angels Heads in an oval, and its companion (37)

Carracci Bolognese family of painters of the last quarter of the 16th century. CARRACCI Venus and Cupid, in an oval (66) = (?)A small history by Carracci, bought by Handel at auctiona for 2 3s.
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(a) A copy or version of Venus and Cupid by Annibale Carracci (illus.33a), now at the Galleria e Museo Estense, Modena; see D. Posner, Annibale Carracci, 2 vols. (London, 1971), ii, cat. no.65 (ill.); Annibale

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Diest, Adrian van (1655/651704) Active in London last decades of the 17th century where he painted topographic views, landscapes and animals. VANDIEST a Landscape (18) A Landscape with Buildings, by Vandiest (13) Ferg, Franz de Paula (16891740; Austrian) Landscape and genre painter; active in England c.172440. FERG A Landscape and Figures, on Copper (60) Its Companion (61)

no.158; engraved in reverse by Goupy; see Robertson and Dance, Joseph Goupy, no.10, fig.5 (ill.). GOUPY Belisarius, after Van Dyck, in Water Colours (43)

Probably one of several versions by Goupy now known: (a) The version in pastels formerly owned by Frederick, Prince of Wales, is in the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle (22 28 in.; 56.5 71.1 cm); see O. Millar, The Tudor, Stuart and early Georgian pictures in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen (London, 1963), no.565. (b) The pastel version drawn for the Earl of Oxford is in the Portland Collection, Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire (22 28 in.; 55.9 71.1 cm) (no.558); see R. Goulding, Catalogue of the pictures belonging to His Grace the Duke of Portand, K. G. (Cambridge, 1936), no.370. (c) A version was sold (among Scenes from Roman History) at Sothebys, London, Graystone Sale, 21 February 1923, no.86 (26.6 36.9 cm). A copy was listed in Goupys sale catalogue (London, 23 March 1765, no.67). See Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales, no.145; and Robertson and Dance, Joseph Goupy, no.57. ?Goupy ?Goupy ?Goupy Jupiter and Leda, in Water Colours (30) Jupiter and Dana, its Companion (31) Jupiter and I, in Water Colours (47)

Goupy, Joseph (16891769; French) Active in England, c.171169; principally copier of Old Masters in watercolour, pastel and prints. GOUPY Hagar and Ishmael (35)

Probably Goupys watercolour original (not traced) for his etching Hagar (illus.35), probably adapted from Salvator Rosa; see B. Robertson and R. Dance, Joseph Goupy and the art of the copy, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, lxxv (1988), pp.35482, no.14 (ill.). The probable Rosa original, Hagar and the angel, is at the Hospital de Tavera, Toledo (149 120 cm); see L. Salerno, Salvator Rosa (Milan, 1963), p.148. A non-autograph copy is at the National Gallery, London (ng2107) (132.7 95.3 cm); see The National Gallery complete illustrated catalogue, comp. C. Baker and T. Henry (London, 2001), p.585 (ill.). GOUPY Mucius Scaevola (58)

Probably one of several versions (or a copy) by Goupy now known: (a) A version in watercolours is at the Huntington Library and Art Collections, San Marino, Calif., no.33.7 (13 16 in.) (illus.40); it was purchased by C. H. Collins-Bakerc at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, Catalogue of old pictures and drawings, 15 December 1933, lot 32 (attrib. to Tiepolo).
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A Jupiter and I, after Corregio, in water colours is listed in the Goupy posthumous sale catalogue (London, 3 April 1770, no.69). ?Goupy Jupiter and Ixion, its Companion (48)

(b) Another version, Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsenna (42 49 in.) was sold at Christies, London, Bulkeley Sale, 28 April 1922, lot no.75. Copies are listed in the Goupy posthumous sale catalogue (London, 3 April 1770, nos.7 and 65). See K. Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales (170751) as collector and patron, Walpole Society, lv (1993),

Goyen, Jan van (15961656; Dutch) Prolific landscape painter. VANGOEN a small Landscape (20) Griffier, Jan, the Elder (Old Griffier) (c.1646 1718; Dutch) Active in England, 1666c.1695, c.1705 18 (see also Berchem).

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A Landscape and Cattle, after Berghem, by Old Griffier (24) Hondius, Abraham (162591; Dutch) Mainly painter of hunting and animal scenes; active in England, 166991. HONDIUS HONDIUS ditto [An upright landscape] with Vulcans Forge (45) A Hunting Piece (49)

PANINI

A large Piece of Architecture and Ruins, after (54)

Louis Parrocel (163494) One of a French family of painters. PARROCELL A Landscape with a bridge, and the finding of Moses (36) = (?) A Landskip with Moses in the Bullrushes by Parocelle Senr, bought by Handel at auctiona for 12 12s.
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Huysmans, Cornelis (16481727; Flemish). Painted pseudo-Italianate landscapes with mountainous backgrounds. a Landscape, the style of Housman (14) Locatelli, Andrea (1693/51741/51; Roman) Painter of picturesque or classical landscapes. LUCATELLI A Landscape (62)

Michau, Thobald (16761765; Flemish) Principally painter of landscape and anecdotal scenes. MICHAU An upright Landscape (44)

The painting, a version, or a copy of, Mose sauv des eaux by Louis Parrocel; see J. Delaplanche, Joseph Parrocel, 16461704: la nostalgie de lhrosme (Paris, 2006), no.pr 63 (100 123 cm) (rejected attribution)(ill.). Offered by, Tajan, 22 March 2002, no.149 (attrib. Joseph Parrocel) (ill.), and at Sothebys, London, Old Master paintings, 4 December 2008, no.199 (39.1 in 48.6 in; 99.3 123.4 cm). Pellegrini, Giovanni Antonio (16751741; Venetian) Painter of histories and mythologies; active as muralist in England, 170813, 1719. PELLEGRINI PELLEGRINI Two History Pieces (15) Sampson and Dalilah (26)

Mola, Pier Francesco (161266; Italian). Narcissus in a Landscape, Fr. Mola (21) Probably the painting, a version, or a copy of Echo and Narcissus now at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (wa1954.84) (50 39 cm). See R. Cocke, Pier Francesco Mola (Oxford, 1972), no.31, pl.17 (ill.); and The Ashmolean Museum: complete illustrated catalogue of paintings (Oxford, 2004), p.148 (ill.). Momper Flemish family of landscape painters. Mompert A Landscape (32) A small Landscape, by Mompert (13)

The painting, or a copy of, Samson and Delilah (illus.37) formerly in the Pospisil-Duckett Collection, Venice; see G. Knox, Antonio Pellegrini, 16751741 (Oxford, 1995), no. p.448, p.261; and A. Bettagno, Disegni e dipinti di Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, 16751741 (Venice, 1959), no.113 (ill.). Poelenburgh (Polenburch), Cornelis van (c.1594/51667; Dutch). POELENBURGH Bacchus and Ariadne (64) = (?) A Landskip with a Bacchanalian by Prelemburch, bought by Handel at auctiona for 10 10s.

Montingo, Antonio (fl.1678c.1690) Active in London in the last decades of the 17th century. 1 ditto [Flower Piece] by Montingo (16) (style of) Ostade, Adriaen van (162149; Dutch) Painter of peasant and low-life genre scenes. A Dutch Conversation, the Style of Ostade (14) (after) Panini, Giovanni (Gian) Paolo (16911765; Roman) Painter, architect and stage designer.

Probably the painting, or a copy, of one of Poelenburghs known versions of the subject: (a) Bacchus and Ariadne (illus.31a), at the Palace Museum, Pavlovsk (inv. 240)(56 84 cm; 22 33 in.); see N. C. Sluijter-Seijffert, Cornelis van Poelenburgh (ca. 15931667) (Enschede, 1994), no.6;

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and Y. Kuznetsov and I. Linnik, Dutch painting in Soviet museums (New York and Leningrad, 1982), no.160 (ill.). (b) reduced copy of above, offered at Christie, Mason & Woods, 12 January 1942, Ancient and modern pictures and drawings and engravings; old pictures (40 60.3 cm), lot no.124. (c) Bacchanalia (illus.31b), at the Muse des Augustins, Foucart Collection, Toulouse. (d) (follower of Poelenburgh) Bacchus and Ariadne, with gures dancing around a herm, sold at Sotheby Park Bernet, New York, Old Master paintings, 15 December 1982 (8 11 in.; 21 28 cm), lot no.70 (ill.). Porcellis, Jan (before 15841632; Dutch) Painter of small-scale, naturalistic marine scenes. PERCELLES PERCELLES a Sea Piece (13) A fresh Gale, Percelles, [? also by him] a Calm, and 2 others (17)

M. RICCI

Two ditto [landscapes and bridges, in Water Colours], small (53)

Ricci, Sebastiano (16591734; Venetian) Active in England, 1711/121716). SEB. RICCI Venus and Adonis (65)

Probably the painting, or a copy, of one of Riccis known versions of the subject: (a) The oil sketch (for a fresco at the Palazzo Pitti, Florence) Venere e Adone, showing Venus bidding farewell to Adonis (illus.30a), at the Muse des Beaux Arts, Orlans (70 40 cm); see A. Rizzi, Sebastiano Ricci (Milan, 2/1989), no.26 (ill.), pp.1045 (see also p.26); and J. Daniels, Sebastiano Ricci (Hove, 1976), no.282, g.92 (ill); idem, Lopera completa di Sebastiano Ricci (Milan, 1976), no.255 (ill.). (b) Venus adorning Adoniss hair with owers, formerly in the Marshall Johann Matthias von Schuelenburg Collection; see A. Binion, From Schulenburgs gallery and records, Burlington Magazine, cxii/806 (May 1970), pp.2989; Daniels, Lopera completa di Ricci (74 88 cm), no.512 (ill.); Daniels, Sebastiano Ricci, no.119a. Offered at Sotheby Park Bernet, London, 3 July 1985, Old Master paintings (72 85.5 cm; 28 33 in.), lot no.153; and Sothebys, New York, 30 May 1991, Old Master paintings (72 86.5 cm; 28 34 in.) lot no.58 (ill.). (c) a larger version with design variants of Venus adorning Adoniss hair with owers (illus.30b); offered at Sothebys, Monaco, 21 June 1986, Tableaux anciens et du XIXe sicle (105 151.5 cm), lot no.21. Ruysdael, Salomon van (c.1600031670; Dutch) Prolific landscape painter. a ditto [Landscape and Cattle] by Sol. Ruysdael (24) = (?)A Landschape by Sal. Rysdael, bought by Handel at auctiona for 6 16s 6d. Sarto, Andrea Del (14861530; Italian). ANDREA DEL SARTO Venus with her Attendants (59) (Questionable attribution; del Sarto was almost exclusively a painter of religious subjects) Savery, Roelandt (15761639; Dutch) Landscape and flower painter.

Poussin, Nicolas (15941665; French, worked in Italy) (see also da Cortona). N. POUSSIN N. POUSSIN A Landscape (40) The Siege of Troy (55) = (?)The Sacking of Troy by P. da Cortona, bought by Handel at auctiona for 7 0s.

Rembrandt van Rijn (160669; Dutch) REMBRANDT A Head, the Stile of (27) A large landschape & Figs by Rembrandt, purchased by Handel at auctiona for 39 18s. Landskip: A view of the Rhine; gift to Handel from Bernard Granville and one of two Rembrandts bequeathedb to him.
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Ricci, Marco (16761730; Venetian) Active in England, 170810, 1711/121716; painted numerous small, brightly colored landscapes in tempera on kidskin. M. RICCI M. RICCI ditto [A landscape] and Buildings, in Water Colours (51) Two ditto [landscapes and buildings, in Water Colours] (52)

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ROWLAND SAVORY

A Landscape (46)

Jupiter and Dana, its Companion (31) (see Goupy) Jupiter and I, in Water Colours (47) (see Goupy) Jupiter and Ixion, its Companion (48) (see Goupy) The Rape of Proserpine (34) a Sea Piece (13) 2 Heads in one Picture (18) Two Landscapes (23) 2 Portraits (14)

Servandoni, Giovanni Niccol (16951766; French; student of Panini) Active in London c.172224, 174750; designed fireworks for the London 1749 celebration of the Peace of Aix-laChapelle). SERVANDONI SERVANDONI A Piece of Ruins (25) A large Piece of Ruins and Figures (67) Two Door Pieces, after Servandoni, and 2 others (12)

Printsd
Eight of the Planets, by N. Dorigny (1) Eight of the nine reproductive engravings from The firmament, the seven planets, and God the Father (Rome, 1695), a suite of nine engravings in folio by Nicolas Dorigny of mosaics after designs by Raphael in the cupola of the Chigi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. The Flight into Egypt, by Solimene, and 8 others (2) Reproductive engraving (London, 1724) by Bernard Baron of the painting by Francesco Solimena. Seven Prints of the Angles [sic] and Crucifixion, by N. Dorigny (3) (a) Seven prints from Saint Agnes in heaven with saints (Rome n.d.), a suite of eight reproductive engravings by Nicolas Dorigny after the fresco by Ciro Ferri on the cupola of the church of SantAgnese in Agone, Piazza Navona, Rome. (b) Probably the reproductive engraving by Nicolas Dorigny, Deo Trino Uni Opt. Max. (Rome, 1702) after the painting by Guido Reni, in the church of the Santissima Trinit dei Pellegrini, Rome. Eight Landscapes, by N. Poussin (4) Reproductive engravings by any number of artists (e.g., Etienne Baudet, J. B. C. Chatelain, Joseph Goupy and Bernard Picart) after Nicolas Poussin. Six Sea Pieces, by Mr. Scott and Mr. Lambert (5) Reproductive engravings by Elisha Kirkall (1734) or Gerard Vandergucht (1736) after a set of six paintings (1732) by Samuel Scott and George Lambert depicting the water-fronts

Swanevelt, Herman van (c.160055; Dutch) Active in France and Italy. SWANEVELT A Landscape (38) Teniers, David, the Younger (II) (161090; Flemish) Genre painter. D. TENIERS A Conversation of Boors (19) Tillemans, Peter (16841734; Flemish) Painter of landscape, topographical, and hunting scenes; active in England from 1708. TILLEMANS Two Battle Pieces (56) (style of) Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (?148590 1576; Venetian). TITIAN a Man playing on a German Flute, Stile of (21)

van Bloemen, see Bloemen van Borssom, see Borssom van Diest, see Diest van Goyen, see Goyen Watteau, Jean-Antoine (16841721; French) Painter of scenes of galant couples, musicians and theatrical persons (see cover illustration). Active in London, 171920. WATTEAU WATTEAU A Conversation (28) Its Companion (29)

Wootton, John (c.16821764; English) Principally painter of landscape, horse and sporting scenes. WOOTON A Sun-set (39) Artist not given or uncertain: Jupiter and Leda, in Water Colours (30) (see Goupy)

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of the more important settlements in the East Indies and on the route to them. On the originals, Six views of the East India Companys settlements, see E. Einberg, Catalogue raisonn of the works of George Lambert, Walpole Society, lxiii (2001), pp.11199; nos. p173132 A,B,C,D,E,F, figs.216 (ill); the engravings Eng16 (Kirkall) and Eng712. Four Landscapes, by Goupy, after Poussin, &c. (6) Reproductive engravings by Joseph Goupy after paintings by Nicolas Poussin. Four Views of Malta, and 3 others by Dorigny (7) Reproductive engravings by Antoine Benoist or C. L. Benoist (London c.174560) of Joseph Goupys four panoramic views of the Port of Valletta, Malta; see Robertson and Dance, Joseph

Goupy, nos.447. On the originals (at Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire) and engravings, see Malta views: a catalogue of topographical prints & drawings in the Museum of the Order of St. John (London, 1984), nos.5, 6, 7 (ill.). Eight Landscapes, by Goupy, after Sal. Rosa (8) Reproductive engravings by Joseph Goupy after paintings by Salvator Rosa; see Robertson and Dance, Joseph Goupy, nos.1320. Rubens Stag-hunting, by ditto [Goupy], and 5 others (9) Reproductive engraving by Joseph Goupy of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, Diana hunting a deer. Original painting, now lost, was at the time in the collection of Sir Robert Walpole; see Robertson and Dance, Joseph Goupy, no.34.

a Handel: a celebration of his life and times, 16851759, ed. J. Simon (London, 1985), p.298. b O. E. Deutsch, Handel: a documentary biography (New York, 1955), p.789. c See copy of sale catalogue at the library of the Art Institute of Chicago. d The prints are described in greater detail in T. McGeary, Handel as art collector: his print collection, Gttinger HndelBeitrge, viii (2000), pp.15780.

I am grateful to the American Handel Society for a J. Merrill Knapp Research Fellowship, which provided for the illustrations for this article. 1 John Hawkins, A General History of the Science and Practice of Music (1776; r/London, 1875), ii, p.912. 2 William Coxe, Anecdotes of George Frederick Handel and John Christopher Smith (1799), p.27. He is probably relying on information from John Christopher Smith, jr., his father-in-law. 3 Listed in the third codicil to Handels will, 4 August 1757; O. E. Deutsch, Handel: a documentary biography (New York, 1955), p.789. 4 Handel: a celebration of his life and times, 16851759, ed. J. Simon (London, 1985), pp.28990. An initial survey of Handels collection was given in A. M. Hughes and M. Royalton-Kisch,

Handels art collection, Apollo, cxlvi (1997), pp.1723. 5 On Londons art world in Handels day: I. Pears, The discovery of painting: the growth of interest in the arts in England, 16801768 (New Haven, 1988); L. Lippincott, Selling art in Georgian London: the rise of Arthur Pond (New Haven, 1983); The eighteenth century: art, design and society, 16891789, ed. B. Denvir (London, 1983); Art markets in Europe, 14001800, ed. M. North and D. Ormrod (Aldershot, 1998); Towards a modern art world, ed. B. Allen (New Haven, 1995); Painting and the politics of culture: new essays on British art, 17001850, ed. J. Barrell (Oxford, 1992); D. H. Solkin, Painting for money: the visual arts and the public sphere in eighteenth-century England (New Haven, 1993); and C. Gibson-

Wood, Picture consumption in London at the end of the seventeenthcentury, Art Bulletin, lxxxiv (2002), pp.491500. 6 J. Simon, English Baroque sketches: the painted interior in the age of Thornhill, exhibition catalogue (London, 1974). 7 Pears, Discovery of painting, pp.12. 8 Simon, Handel: a celebration, p.289. 9 Pears, Discovery of painting, pp.1012. 10 Pears, Discovery of painting, p.214. 11 S. Rosenfeld, Georgian scene painters and scene painting (Cambridge, 1981), pp.59, 73. 12 Simon, Handel: a celebration, pp.3647, for Handel portraits. The Goupy portrait (present location not known) is listed in K. Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales (170751),

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as collector and patron, Walpole Society, lv (1989/90), pp.176, no.152. 13 Principal art treatises in English (or in English translation) that formed the taste of Handel and his contemporaries include William Aglionby, Painting Illustrated in Three Dialogues (1685) (reissued as Choice Observations upon the Art of Painting [1719]); Charles A. Du Fresnoy, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting (1695), trans. of LArt de peinture (1668); Pierre Monier, The History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture (London, 1699), trans. of Histoire des arts . . . (1698); John Elsum, Art of Painting after the Italian Manner (1703); Roger de Piles, The Art of Painting, and the Lives of the Painters (1706), trans. of Abrg de la vie des peintres (includes Bainbridge Buckeridge, An Essay towards an English School of Painters); Jonathan Richardson, An Essay on the Theory of Painting (1715), Two Discourses (An Essay on the Whole Art of Criticism and An Argument in Behalf of the Science of a Connoisseur) (1719); Charles Lamotte, An Essay Upon Poetry and Painting (1730); Grard de Lairesse, The Art of Painting (1738), trans. of Het Groot Schilderboek (1707); George Turnbull, A Treatise on Ancient Painting (1740); and Jean-Baptiste Dubos, Reflections on Poetry, Painting, and Music, 3 vols. (1748), trans. of Rflexions Critiques sur la Posie et sur la Peinture, 3 vols. (1733). 14 de Lairesse, Art of Painting, p.203. 15 Fogs Weekly Journal, no.98 (8 August 1730). 16 Turnbull, Treatise on Ancient Painting, p.xxi. 17 Richardson, Two Discourses, p.12. 18 Richardson, Essay on the Theory of Painting (2/1725), pp.1213. 19 Richardson, Two Discourses, pp.445. 20 Horace Walpole, AEdes Walpolian (2/1752), pp.xixii. 21 Turnbull, Treatise on Ancient Painting, p.xxi. 22 On Corellis collection: M. Viale Ferrero, Arcangelo Corelli collezionista, Nuovissimi studi corelliani: Atti del terzo congresso internazionale, Fusignano, 47 September 1980 (Florence, 1982),

pp.22538; A. Cametti, Arcangelo Corelli: I suoi quadre e i suoi violini, Rivista di studi e di vita romana, v (1927), pp.41223. On Farinellis collection: F. Boris and G. Cammarota, La collezione di Carlo Broschi detto Farinelli, Accademia Clementina: Atti e memorie, xxvii n.s. (1990), pp.183237. 23 E. Careri, Francesco Geminiani (16871762) (Oxford, 1993), pp.279, 43. His love for and dealing in paintings were taken by contemporaries as signs of disrespect to music. See Geminianis sale catalogue (London, 21 April 1725). 24 Cicero, Pro Archia.2: Omnes artes quae ad humanitatem pertinent habent quoddam commune vinculum. 25 Hildebrand Jacob, Of the Sister Arts; An Essay (1734), pp.45. 26 Charles Avison, An Essay on Musical Expression (2/1753), pp.208. 27 John Mainwaring, Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Frederick Handel (1760), p.179n. 28 Momus, writing to The London Journal, no.310 (3 July 1725). Momus qualifies that he means simple Musick, or instrumental music only. 29 Jacob, Of the Sister Arts, p.6. 30 Fogs Weekly Journal, no.98 (8 August 1730). 31 De Piles, The Art of Painting and the Lives of the Painters (1706), pp.5960; Elmens de peinture pratique, avec lide du Peintre parfait; in Oeuvres Diverses, 5 vols. (1767): veulent se former le got aux bonnes choses, & avoir une teinture raisonnable des beaux arts, rien nest plus ncessaire que les bonnes estampes (iii, p.449). 32 De Piles, Art of Painting, p.60; Elmens de peinture pratique: par le moyen des estampes, vous pouvez sur une table voir sans peine les ouvrages des diffrens matres, en former une ide, en juger par comparaison, en faire un choix, & contracter par cette pratique une habitude du bon got (iii, pp.440, 449 and 450). 33 William Graves, Sculptura HistoricoTechnica: Or the History and Art of Ingraving (1747), pp.iv and vi. 34 Lippincott, Selling art, pp.70 and 1423. 35 Advertisements appeared in The Daily Advertiser, running from no.9070 (14 February 1760) to no.9092 (28

February 1760). The sole known copy of the catalogue is in the Frick Art Reference Library, New York; F. Lugt, Rpertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques (La Haye, 1938), no.1084. Contemporary auctions in London are described by Andr Rouquet, The Present State of the Arts in England (1755), pp.1216. 36 John Dryden (trans.), Preface to Charles De Fresnoy, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting (1695), p.xxxv. 37 Richardson, Two Discourses, p.179. 38 For further information on Handels collection of prints, and illustrations of all the prints, see my Handel as art collector: his print collection, Gttinger Hndel-Beitrge, viii (2000), pp.15780. 39 Fogs Weekly Journal, no.206 (14 October 1732). 40 The London Daily Post, and General Advertiser, no.203 (27 June 1735). 41 On the English enthusiasm for Canaletto, see Canaletto and England, ed. M. Liversidge and J. Farrington (London, 1993). 42 As trans. in Travels through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and Lorrain, 4 vols. (17567), ii, p.211. 43 As trans. in The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, 2 vols. (1737), ii, p.72. But Pllnitz added a qualification: But when he has digested all this, I would advise him to be gone, since there is nothing more for him to learn, and he is in danger of forgetting every thing. 44 In addition to the works cited below, see Thomas Nugent, The Grand Tour: Or, A Journey through the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and France, 4 vols. (2/1756), iii, pp.5868. 45 The chapel, the most magnificent of those in the church, is mentioned in Franois Nodot, Nouveaux mmoires de Mr. Nodot; ou observations quil a faites pendant son voyage ditalie, 2 vols. (1706), i, p.224. 46 Jonathan Richardson, sen. and jr., An Account of Some of the Statues, Bas-reliefs, Drawings and Pictures in Italy (1722), p.307. 47 Edward Wright, Observations Made in Travelling Through France, Italy, &c.

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(1730), i, p.246. Wright also noted the Chigi Chapel (i, p.247). 48 Richardson, sen. and jr., Account of Some of the Statues, Bas-reliefs, Drawings and Pictures, pp.1089. 49 Keyssler, Travels, ii, p.56. 50 Giacomo Barri, Viaggio Pittoresco: In cui si notano distintamente tutte le Pitture famose de pi celebri Pittori (1671), p.4 (di grande ammiratione); Barri also mentions the Chigi Chapel, p.10. 51 Preface to Roma Illustrata: Or, a Description of the Most Beautiful Pieces of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, Antique and Modern, at and near Rome (1722). 52 Sir Joshua Reynolds, Idler, no.79 (20 October 1759). 53 Bainbridge Buckeridge, An Essay towards an English School of Painters, in De Piles, The Art of Painting (1754 edn), p.383, s.v. Egbert van Heemskerk. 54 William Gilpin, An Essay Upon Prints (1768), p.109. 55 J.-B. Dubos, Reflections on Poetry, Painting, and Music, 3 vols. (1748), i, p.44; trans. of Rflexions Critiques sur la Posie et sur la Peinture, 3 vols. (1733). 56 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.114. 57 Deutsch, Handel, p.789. 58 The pair (see illus.11) from the collection of the Emperor Charles VI (dated before 1721 and 1726) is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: nos.gg 675 (Old Woman) and gg 676 (Old Man). 59 The Vertue Note Books III; Walpole Society, xxii (19334), pp.29, 323. 60 The Vertue Note Books I; Walpole Society, xviii (192930), p.76; see also Vertue Note Books III, p.33. 61 Vertue Note Books III, pp.34, 36. A portrait of an old woman, signed and dated by Denner, 1724 London, at the Louvre (no.1208) is probably a version painted at this time. 62 Deutsch, Handel, p.789. The paintings were in Jennenss possession as Two Heads of an old Man and old Woman by Denier in 1767; see The English Connoisseur, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1767), i, p.82.

63 Sonnet auf den berhmtesten Portrait-Schilderer unserer Zeit and the 31-line An Hn. Denner; Barthold Heinrich Brockes, Bethlehemitischer Kinder-Mord des Ritters Marino (5/1742), pp.576, 6745. 64 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.126. 65 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.139. 66 De Piles, Cours de Peinture par Principes (1708), pp.2012 (une composition dobjets qui . . . tirent de lArt & de la Nature tout ce que lun & lautre peuvent produire de grand & dextraordinaire . . . & si la Nature ny est pas exprime comme le hazard nous la fait voir tous les jours, elle y est du moins represente come on simagine quelle devroit tre). 67 The classic study of the impact of the Italian landscape in England is E. W. Manwaring, Italian landscape in eighteenth century England: a study chiefly of the influence of Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa on English taste, 17001800 (New York, 1925); more recently see The genius of the place: the English landscape garden, 16201820, ed. J. D. Hunt and P. Willis (Cambridge, MA, 1988); J. Barrell, The idea of landscape and the sense of place 17301840: an approach to the poetry of John Clare (Cambridge, 1972), esp. pp.663; idem, The figure in the landscape: poetry, painting, and gardening during the eighteenth century (Baltimore, 1976); J. B. Spencer, Heroic nature: ideal landscape in English poetry from Marvell to Thomson (Evanston, IL, 1973); and H. V. S. Ogden and M. S. Ogden, English taste in landscape in the seventeenth century (Ann Arbor, 1955). 68 James Thomson, The Castle of Indolence (1748), Canto I, xxxviii. Horace Walpole commended Rosas masterly Management of Horror and Distress, Poussin as perfect Master of Expression and Drawing, and Claude as the Raphael of Landscape-Painting; AEdes Walpolian (1747), pp.xxvii, xxx and xxxi. 69 Letter of 28 September 1739 n.s., to Richard West, from the mountains of Savoy; The Yale edition of Horace Walpoles correspondence, ed. W.S. Lewis (New Haven, 193783), xiiixiv, p.181. 70 O. E. Deutsch is wildly off the mark in his suggestion that Handel may have

spent 8,000 for paintings at this sale; Deutsch, Handel, p.680. 71 H. McLean, Bernard Granville, Handel and the Rembrandts, Musical Times, cxxvi, no.1712 (October 1985), pp.593601; also surveys Handels art collection. 72 See C. P. Schneider, Rembrandts landscapes (New Haven, 1990), no.2. The Wallace Collection now attributes this painting in its collection, Landscape with a coach, to Govaert Flinck. 73 Letter to his son, 10 May 1751; The letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, ed. B. Dobre, 6 vols. (London, 1932), iv, no.1773. On Rembrandts reputation in England, see C. White, D. Alexander and E. DOench, Rembrandt in eighteenthcentury England (New Haven, 1983), pp.116; and S. Slive, Rembrandt and his critics, 16301730 (The Hague, 1953), pp.14353. 74 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.153. 75 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.137. 76 Translation from the 1724 printed libretto. Fur ombra i tuoi Trofei, / Ombra la tua Grandezza, e un ombra sei: / Cos termina al fine il fasto umano; / Ieri chi vivo occup un Mondo in guerra / Oggi risolto in polve un Urna ferra. (I.vii) 77 Diderot on art (the salons of 1765 and 1767), ed. and trans. J. Goodman, 2 vols. (New Haven, 1995), ii, p.197. 78 Quoting the manuscript version (1702), in The miscellaneous works of Joseph Addison, ed. A. C. Guthkelch, 2 vols. (London, 1914), i, p.54, lines 6974. 79 On the English response to Italy and Roman ruins, see A. D. McKillop, The background of Thomsons Liberty, Rice Institute Pamphlet 38, no.2 (July 1951), pp.2640; A. Janowitz, Englands ruins: poetic purpose and the national landscape (Oxford, 1990), pp.3040; Imagining Rome: British artists and Rome in the nineteenth century, ed. M. Liversidge and C. Edwards (London, 1996); and M. Baridon, Ruins as a mental construct, Journal of Garden History, v (1985), pp.8496. 80 Dyer, Ruins of Rome, p.43. 81 George Lyttleton, An Epistle to Mr. Pope (1730), p.4.

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82 Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of my life, ed. B. Radice (Harmondsworth, 1984), p.143. 83 Abb Banier, The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients (trans.), 4 vols. (173940), i, p.4. 84 William King, An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes (1710), preface. On the instructive value of mythology and fables, see Thomas Blackwell, Letters Concerning Mythology (1748). 85 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.142. 86 Banier, Mythology and Fables, i, p.4; iv, p.366. 87 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge: pd.71954. The drawing (red chalk, graphite and ink) is endorsed M.r Handel has or had the Harpsicord this design was made for. 88 Charles Lamotte, An Essay Upon Poetry and Painting (1730), pp.184, 191. 89 A Short Account of a Late Journey to Tuscany, Rome, and other parts of Italy (1741). 90 On the general theme, see F. Van Keuren, Jupiters loves and his children, exhibition catalogue (Athens, GA, 1997). 91 Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales, pp.176, nos.117, 118, 123 and 126. 92 C. R. Grundy, Documents relating to an action brought against Joseph Goupy in 1738, Walpole Society, ix (19201), pp.82, 84; and J. Simon, New light on Joseph Goupy (16891769), Apollo, cxxxix n.s. (February 1994), p.16. 93 E. Verheyen, The Palazzo del Te in Mantua: images of love and politics (Baltimore, 1977); idem, Correggios Amori di Giove, Journal of the Warburg and Courtald Institutes, xxix (1966), pp.16092. 94 B. Talvacchia, Taking positions: on the erotic in Renaissance culture (Princeton, 1999), pp.1447; on Giulio Romano, Caraglio and Carracci, see L. Dunand and P. Lemarchand, Les amours des dieux, 3 vols. (Lausanne, 197790). 95 G. Knox, Antonio Pellegrini 16751741 (Oxford, 1995), nos.p.504 and p.505 (among other biblical subjects). 96 See J. Delplance, Joseph Parrocel, 16461704: la nostalgie de lhrosm

(Paris, 2006), no.PR 63 (rejected attribution). I am grateful to Peter Bjrn Kerber, the Getty Museum, for drawing this source to my attention. There is also a drawing by Etienne Parrocel of the subject, Mose dans les roseaux, at the Muse des Beaux-Arts, Marseille; illustrated in Revu du Louvre, no.516 (December 1994), acquisitions, no.14, p.95. 97 Knox, Pellegrini, nos.P.384 and P.385 (among other classical subjects). 98 Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales of Wales, nos.145, 158. 99 Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting (2/176571), ii, p.101. Illustrated in Masterpieces in the Duke of Devonshires collection of pictures, ed. S. A. Strong (London, 1901), no.10. 100 R. Goulding, Catalogue of the pictures belonging to His Grace the Duke of Portand, K. G. (Cambridge, 1936), no.370 (Earl of Oxfords copy); Grundy, Documents relating to Joseph Goupy, p.82 (John Hedgess copy). 101 On the uses of the story, see J. R. Monty, The myth of Belisarius in eighteenth century France, Romance Notes, iv (1963), pp.12731. 102 Lamotte, Essay Upon Poetry and Painting, p.170. 103 John Oldmixon, The Life and History of Belisarius (1713), p.60. 104 Edward Gibbon, The history of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J. B. Bury, 7 vols. (London, 18961900), vi, pp.4589. 105 John Elsum, A Description of the Celebrated Pieces of Paintings (1704), p.25. 106 Lelemosina a Belisario, at the Louvre, Paris (Mnr 304, ital.36); see F. Arisi, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 16911765 (Milan, 1993), no.7. 107 Other interpretations, though, say Mucius burnt his hand in selfpunishment for the mistaken murder of the secretary. 108 Elsum, Description of Paintings, p.120. 109 Charles Rollin, The Roman History . . . to the End of the Commonwealth, 2 vols. (173950), i, pp.2334.

110 Grundy, Documents, p.83. Goupys first versions of the watercolour must be before 1726, when he etched the subject. 111 Gilpin, Essay Upon Prints, p.167. 112 Fol.105v; illustrated in A. H. King, Handel and his autographs (London, 1967), pl.18. 113 See n.61. 114 Rorschach, Frederick, Prince of Wales, no.152. 115 R. King, Anne of Hanover and Orange (170959) as patron and practitioner of the arts, in Queenship in Britain 16601837: royal patronage, court culture and dynastic politics, ed. C. C. Orr (Manchester, 2002), pp.16292. 116 Autobiography and correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed. Lady Llanover, 6 vols. (London, 18612), i, pp.2834, 485, 609; ii, p.505. 117 B. Nicolson and J. Kerslake, The treasures of the Foundling Hospital (Oxford, 1972), no.39, pl.50. 118 Nicolson and Kerslake, The treasures of the Foundling Hospital, no.34, pl.51; and B. Allen, Francis Hayman (New Haven, 1987), no.46, pl.46. 119 Matthew Henry, An Exposition of the Five Books of Moses (1700), commentary on Exodus, 2:510. 120 Pears, Discovery of Painting, p.142. 121 See the study of Priors collection by H. B. Wright and H. C. Montgomery, The art collection of a virtuoso in eighteenthcentury England, Art Bulletin, xxvii (1945), pp.195204, and two figures. The inventory of Alexander Popes collection is printed in M. Mack, The garden and the city: retirement and politics in the later poetry of Pope, 17311743 (Toronto, 1969), pp.24458. 122 Jennens, see n.61; Corelli, see n.22. 123 On art, idolatry and iconoclasm in England: C. Haynes, Pictures and popery: art and religion in England, 16601760 (Aldershot, 2006); R. Paulson, Breaking and remaking: aesthetic practice in England, 17001820 (New Brunswick, 1989), pp.1520, 345, 1523, and ch.4; idem, Hogarths harlot: sacred parody in Enlightenment England (Baltimore, 2003), pp.1214, 5760. 124 Pears, Discovery of painting, p.3.

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