The English prize
Subtitle: the capture of the Westmorland, an episode of the grand tour
By: edited by María Dolores Sánchez-Jáuregui and Scott Wilcox
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780300176056
Subjects: Grand tours (Education); Art; Art treasures in war; Travelers; HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain; Westmoreland (Ship); Anglo-French War, 1793-1802; Confiscations and contributions; ART / Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions / Group Shows; HISTORY / Europe / Spain & Portugal; HISTORY / Modern / 18th Century; Collectors and collecting; History
Description: "Laden with works of art acquired by young British travelers on the Grand Tour in Italy, the British merchant ship Westmorland sailed from the Italian port of Livorno before being captured by French naval vessels and escorted to Malaga in southern Spain. The artistic treasures on board were purchased by King Carlos III of Spain, and the majority were deposited in the collections of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. There they resided, unknown, until recent research, using original inventories that survive in the Academia's archives, identified the Westmorland's rich cargo.The English Prize reveals the gripping story of the ship's capture and the disposition of its artistic contents, which included Raphael Mengs's Perseus and Andromeda, Pompeo Batoni's portraits of Frances Bassett and Lord Lewisham, and watercolors by John Robert Cozens. This volume illuminates the cultural phenomenon of the Grand Tour and the young travelers who acquired the trove of books and art works on board the Westmorland but were never able to enjoy their purchases"--
Notes: Issued in connection with an exhibition held May 17-Aug. 27, 2012, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Oct. 4, 2012-Jan. 13, 2013, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut.