James Grant of Grant, John Mytton, the Hon. Thomas Robinson, and Thomas Wynne
Date:
ca. 1760
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
38 5/8 x 48 3/4 inches (98.1 x 123.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1976.7.19
Gallery Label:
Nathaniel Dance was based in Rome from 1754 to 1766. It was there that he painted four versions of this painting, one for each of the young Grand Tourists depicted. They are (from left to right) the Scottish heir to a baronetcy and clan chiefdom James Grant of Grant (1738–1811); the gentleman John Mytton of Halston, Shropshire (d. 1784); the Honorable Thomas Robinson (1738–1786), the son and heir of the diplomat Lord Grantham (and a friend of the artist Benjamin West); and, finally, Thomas Wynn (1736– 1807), possibly the younger half-brother of the wealthy baronet Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn. Robinson holds a print of the elevation of the Temple of Jupiter Stator in Rome, while the Colosseum, functioning, as it does in Pompeo Batoni’s portrait of Lord Charlemont, as an obvious signifier of the sitters’ presence in Rome, is visible behind the figures on the left. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016