Topographical art and landscape history: Elizabeth Fanshawe (1779–1856) in early nineteenth-century Liguria

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the value of amateur topographical art of the early nineteenth century as a source, combined with fieldwork, for the understanding of past landscapes and environments of the Ligurian Apennines. Political and social changes following the Congress of Vienna (1815) enabled the number of English travelling to Italy to increase dramatically. The enormous popularity of artists and poets such as J. M. W. Turner and Lord Byron further encouraged the growth of visitors. In this paper we consider the work of a recently re-discovered amateur artist Elizabeth Fanshawe (1779–1856) who travelled to Italy 1829–31 with her two sisters Catherine and Penelope. We examine their social and political milieu and examine their great interest in art which ranged from old masters to modern art and their own drawings. We focus on six of Elizabeth Fanshawe's topographical drawings and identify problems around the identification of the views depicted and the potential value of the drawings as sources for understanding past landscapes. Other sources used include fieldwork, oral history, local archives and historical maps. The paper demonstrates that the drawings have considerable value in identifying and locating past management practices, including grazing, the cultivation of olives and chestnuts, and the rapid development network of new roads which helped to establish the Kingdom of Sardinia after 1815. The paper demonstrates that amateur topographical art is a valuable source for landscape history.

Keywords:

• Topographical art
• Italy
• landscape
• terraces
• travel writing

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank Philip Athill and Tom Edwards of Abbot and Holder, Paul Willis of Red House Museum, Christchurch, Lynda Brooks, Librarian of the Linnean Society, Dr Sergio Pedemonte and Dr Gary Priestnall for help and advice.

Notes

1. Letter from Caroline Augusta Edgecumbe, née Feilding to William Henry Fox Talbot Genova 22 Nov 1823. BL Fox Talbot Collection.

2. Letter from George Montgomerie to William Henry Fox Talbot, Genoa 28 January 1824. BL Fox Talbot Collection, LA24-11.

3. Letter from William Fox Strangways to William Henry Fox Talbot Genoa 25 Oct 1827. BL Fox Talbot Collection, LA24-11.

4. Surrey History Centre, Quarter Sessions QS2/6/1790/Eph/24-26 1790; QS2/6/1790/Eph/72-73 1790.

5. Br Mus, Dep Prints & Drawings 1882,0114.48; 1882,0114.47; 1866,1110.961.

6. Br Mus, Dep Prints & Drawings, 1917,1208.3091

7. Transactions of the Society Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; with the premiums offered in the Year 1793, Vol. 11, p. 231; 1795 Vol. 13, p. 270; and 1797, Vol. 15, p. 291.

8. Christie's Sale 6267, 22 March 2000 Lot 39.

9. Last will and testament of Elizabeth Christiana Fanshawe, 14 February 1856, TNA.

10. The Red House Mus, Christchurch, holds 15 drawings by Elizabeth Fanshawe. An exhibition ‘Forgotten gems’ Elizabeth Fanshawe's Sketches of Christchurch in 1811’ was held 25 March to 7 May 2000.

11. The Kingdom of Sardinia started to map Liguria systematically in 1815 and it was virtually completed by 1829. The preparatory maps are at the scale of 1:9450 and 1:20,000. See Archivio Cartografico Istituto Geografico Militare Firenze: tavolette manoscritte preparatorie per la Carta degli Stati di Terraferma 1815–1829.

12. Br Libr, 7202, Fox Talbot Coll, London.

13. Regione Liguria 2004. Carte Geologiche sc. 1:25.000 riferite al foglio 232 Sestri Levante sc. 1:50.000.