Wm. Leighton Leitch, Landscape Painter - pocketboek

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: At Rome Mr. Leitch made the acquaintance of many eminent artists, including Gibson, Thorwaldsen, Camu- cini, and Horace Vernet. He formed at the same time some valuable friendships, among them that of the Honourable Richard, afterwards Lord Richard Cavendish, who became his pupil, Archdeacon Pakenham, brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, and others. At the house of a Mrs. Finch, an amiable elderly lady who had resided many years in Rome, he met every week a select party of artists. He was also introduced to other distinguished residents, including many of our own nobility, from whom he received much kindness, and through some of whom he obtained employment in teaching. While residing in Rome, Mr. Leitch made .many interesting sketches, both in the city and in the neighbourhood, specially in the Campagna and among the Alban mountains. From Rome he went, in July 1835, to Naples, and he remained there for some months, continuing his studies and making many beautiful drawings. From Naples he went to Sicily early in October 1835; and from one of his letters to Mrs. Leitch I find he was at Palermo on the 8th December of that year, having, as he writes, "completed my journey round Sicily." It was a journey made under many difficulties?chiefly, he says, from the want of roads. He had also to spend the night often in houses where he found only " black empty walls and bad wine." Often 5, 3 s Studies at Naples. 55 no bread was to be had, no butter, no milk, no cheese, no tea nor coffee; and as for butcher-meat, it seemed.to be a thing that many of the inhabitants had never seen. But with all these inconveniences he made many interesting sketches. Some of his most beautiful pictures are from drawings of Sicilian scenery taken at this time. In the letter from Palermo ju...