A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy: 1701-1800. - book reviews

Magazine Antiques, August, 1997 by Alfred Mayor

The British in Italy

Sir Brinsley Ford, long the secretary of the Society of Dilettanti in England, amassed an archive of information about more than six thousand British and Irish travelers to Italy during the eighteenth century. In 1988 he gave the material to the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800 is the long-awaited result.

So many Britons made the grand tour of Italy during the eighteenth century that a number of them became residents so as to guide the others to the sights and the shops. Indeed, some of these guides were the shops. James Byres (1734-1817), a Scotsman who was for more than thirty years a resident of Rome, would procure genuine works of art from a member of the Barberini-Colonna family for the duke of Rutland once copies had been made and installed in place of the originals. Meanwhile, Byres agreed to continue bringing visitors to the Barberini-Colonna house and passing off the copies as originals. Colin Morison (1732-1810), another Scotsman and a fifty-year resident of Rome, rivaled Byres for clients. In 1765 he gave James Boswell such a moving six-day course in the antiquities of Rome that Boswell burst into Latin, which the two men then continued to speak to each other for the duration.

The book begins with a memoir entitled "Advice on Travel in Italy" by William Patoun (d. 1783) based on his excursion to Italy as the tutor of the ninth earl of Exeter in 1763 and 1764. It is a nuts-and-bolts account of what to expect on a trip from Lyons, France, to Venice, Italy, via Turin, Bologna, Rome, and Florence - the equivalent of a Fodor guide with attitude. Of postillions on coaches he writes: "They are the most resolute ruffians in all Italy, and your Servants must be cautioned to avoid quarrells with them, as it is not a Word & a Blow, but a Word & a Stab." About long journeys "thro Places where there is nothing remarkable to be seen, a Cold tongue, or a Peice of roast beef in the Chaise will prove an Excellent Companion, save you time and Money and often indeed on Maigre-days, nothing can be had on the road." He recommends bringing your own English post chaise, a sort of eighteenth-century Range Rover, to avoid breakdowns. Alternatively, he decrees that "Ropes, Lynch Pins a jack and drag for the Wheels &c are always to be at hand, in case of Accidents, and the Carriage to be examined carefully every Morning."

Patoun advises on the best people to meet in each town, the works of art that should not be missed, the best wines, what to wear, and what to buy. Evidently, he had a delicate constitution for he warns against eating salad with too much oil, and admonishes that "the close of the Evening when the dew falls at Rome is not healthy to be exposed to, unless Walking fast."

On matters artistic Patoun urges particular attention to the Sistine Chapel, saying "Michael Angelo is no Colourist and therefore overlooked by travellers. But upon due examination his Works in that Chappel particularly the Prophets and Sybyls in the Ceiling shew more great and inventive Genius than any other Man who has hitherto appeared." It is a pity Patoun could not revisit the chapel today for his heart was in the right place.