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| Title | Landscape with Figures, Goats and Sheep | |
| Collection | Holburne Museum of Art, Bath | |
| Artist | Attributed to Barker, Thomas (English painter and lithographer, 1769-1847) Previously attributed to Poussin, Nicolas (French painter and draftsman, 1594-1665, active in Italy) Previously attributed to Patel, Pierre, I (French painter, ca.1605-1676) |
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| Date Earliest | possibly about 1790 | |
| Date Latest | possibly about 1820 | |
| Description | The label on the back of the painting, written in Sir Thomas William Holburne's hand, indicates that he believed this idealised Italianate landscape to be a 'very rare' cabinet painting by the renowned seventeenth-century French artist Nicolas Poussin. However, since the early twentieth century this attribution has been questioned. The brushwork of the sheep and figure are typical of the British artist Thomas Barker, and for this reason the painting was recently reattributed to him. Barker produced many copies and pastiches after famous old masters. He lived in Bath where he was acquainted with Holburne. | |
| Current Accession Number | A219 | |
| Subject | landscape; animal (goat, sheep); figure | |
| Measurements | 38.1 x 48.3 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Bequeathed by Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne 1882. | |
| Provenance | Sir Thomas William Holburne, by 1867-74; by descent to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), 1874. | |
| Publications | Catalogue of the Pictures and Library, Engravings, Etchings and Miniatures Belonging to Sir Thomas William Holburne, Bart., Bath, 1867, cat. no. 48, p. 3, as by Nicolas Poussin; Chaffers, W., Catalogue of the Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum Bath, London, 1887, cat. no. 1367, p. 68, as by Nicolas Poussin; Moeckler, F., Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum, Bath, 1902, cat. no. 216, p. 7, as Landscape by Nicolas Poussin; Wright, C., Old Master Paintings in Britain: An Index of Continental Old Master Paintings executed before c. 1800 in Public Collections in the United Kingdom, London, 1976, p. 165, as wrongly attributed to Nicolas Poussin. | |
| Notes | Inscription on front of frame: 'NICHOLAS POUSSIN'; reverse of stretcher, label of T. W. Holburne: 'Cabinet Picture / By Nicholas Poussin / Very rare'; inscribed on reverse of stretcher, chalk: '1367'; inscribed on reverse of stretcher, pencil: '1367'; inscription and stencil on reverse of canvas, red paint: 'H. 3240 / HOLBURNE / BATH / MUSEUM'; modern labels on reverse of stretcher and frame. H. A. Buttery rejected the attribution to Nicolas Poussin and described A219 as a 'copy', 1906; attributed by Christopher Wright to Pierre Patel, 1976; attributed by Amina Wright, Curator, to Thomas Barker, 2006. |
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| Rights Owner | © The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath | |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer | |