The Medici Gardens, Rome (watercolour)

Signed Inscribed with title below mount Signed and inscribed with title on backboard Watercolour 9 x 14 inches (22.75 x 35.5 cm) Exhibited 'Chris Beetles Summer Show', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, 2021, No 50 Additional Notes From 1875, John Fulleylove made several sketching trips to Italy, and, from his marriage in 1878, these were made in the company of his artist wife, Elizabeth (the sister of George Samuel Elgood). Given his Classical interests, it is no surprise that Fulleylove went first to Rome, and that that city should prove a favourite, both for such ancient sites as the early second century Temple of Vesta (more accurately the Temple of Hercules Victor) and such atmospheric spots as the Medici Gardens. He also visited Florence on that first trip, and later returned to Tuscany to take in the towns along the Val d’Arno and those further south, notably Siena and San Gimignano. By the time that he contributed to the two volumes of Cassell’s The Picturesque Mediterranean, which was published in 1889 and 1891, he had become familiar with many of the most important of Italy’s coastal towns, including, of course, Venice.