Richard WilsonRiver View, on the Arno (?) c.1760

This is one of over thirty similar compositions by Wilson, traditionally said to depict a view on the river Arno in Italy. Wilson and his pupils habitually repeated favourite compositions such as this, Wilson himself apparently referring to them as 'good breeders' (Constable, p.58). All the versions of 'A View on the Arno', although they vary considerably in size, depict a small group of figures situated upon a promontory in the foreground, with a large boulder to the right and a blasted tree-trunk to the left. Beyond the river to the right is a hilltop fortress, while to the left the landscape lead to a plain with a mountainscape upon the horizon… (read more)