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Two pages of a letter from Nathaniel Dance in Rome to his father, the elder George Dance, with a record drawing of his painting, Virginia, 1759
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Reference number
SM D2/13/1
Purpose
Two pages of a letter from Nathaniel Dance in Rome to his father, the elder George Dance, with a record drawing of his painting, Virginia, 1759
Aspect
[1] Reduced sketch of Nathaniel Dance's painting of The death of Virginia
Inscribed
Honourd Sr / it is impossible for me to describe with what infinite / Pleasure we received your last most kind Letter, I can only assure / you, that we know no other Joy, equal to that we feel, when we / hear from our most dear Friends: your Letters are indeed so instructive, / so affectionate and so entertaining that they would delight / the most indifferent Person, imagine then the Effect they / must [cancelled] have on one, who have all my Life been continually / recieving new Proofs of your Judgement and good Sense / as well as the greatest Marks of Kindness and Affection; / How trifling are the Services (in my Power to shew my / dear Brother Georgy) compared to those I am daily recie- / ving myself from you, nay were they ever so great, I / should acquire very little Merit by them, as I think / it a Duty and Obligation, and not a Matter of Choice, / to shew him all the kindness in my Power, and ^beingmy / Brother; though were he no Relation to me, his good / Sense and good Nature would deserve from me more than / is in my Power to do for him, however, he may at least / be sure of the most sincere love & Affection for him - / You will find on the other Side a slight Sketch of my / Picture of Virginia, which I think will give you / more idea of the Disposition of the Figures, and the / chiaro scuro than anything I could have wrote, / notwithstanding it is so very slight and incorrect I desire / you will give me your Opinion with regard to the Composition / in your next, what you think may be alter'd for the better, / whether you think the story is well told, in short criticise me / without mercy, and let me know all yourObjections; I have / endeavour'd / to get a hue of Colouring very different from anything / you have seen of mine, or my Master Hayman's (I am sorry / to find they look on him with Contempt because I must / think him the man of Merit, tho' he is very difficient / in point of Colouring and Correctness of drawing, yet, he / certainly has Genius and a great Facility of Invention. / You may be sure I shall be vastly ready to putt in for / the Premium if you approve it, I have also been advis'd / to it by Mr Hamilton / a man of a great deal / of Merit who has gn / Encouragement in / history Painting from / some of our first / Nobility, he says it / is impossible, that I / should not get it, if / they do not object / against the Picture / being done abroad, I sho / be glad to know if that / will signify anything / and when the Pictures / must be given. / Certainly it would do / me great Service if / I could succeed in / this Affair with regard / to my Reputation - / and the hundred / Pounds would be / of Service to me while / I remain abroad / Pray let me hear / from them on this / subject. I have a Mind to get a Frame made for my Picture / here, for they make ^ them cheaper and I think better than in / London it may be made to take to pieces, so that it will / not be at all inconvenient the sending of it, besides, it / will^be necessary to have a Frame if I expose it in publick / I am glad you like the Copy of Poussin, I hope you pay'd no / Duty for, as Capt. Landerfield who was very much my
Signed and dated
- Dated: Rome July 28 1759
Medium and dimensions
Brown pen, pen and sepia washes on laid secretary paper (320 x 205, image 140 x 185)
Hand
Nathaniel Dance
Watermark
crowned roundel with [illegible] Britannia?
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk