The Falls of Terni

Thomas Patch (1725 - 1782)

National Museum Cardiff

1750 - 1753

Patch was banished from the Papal States in 1755 so this picture was perhaps painted with reference to an earlier work. The Falls are depicted from the front, with a tall tree closing the composition on the left. A gentleman can be seen talking to a hermit in the foreground while small groups of people admire the water. The handling and colour of the painting are strongly reminiscent of the work of Claude-Joseph Vernet, in whose studio Patch worked between 1750 and 1753. The fact that Patch, by now a 'bridge painter' and caricaturist in Florence, should return to an old subject and paint it with unexpectedly romantic feeling suggests that he had been reading Burke.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 121 x 88 cm
• Art Fund Grant: £1000 ( Total: £7,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1969
• Vendor: Colnaghi

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