Caricatures, Campagna, and Connoisseurs: Thomas Patch and the British Grand Tour in Eighteenth-Century Italy

Dealing

Like many long-term expatriates with links to Italian grandees, Patch negotiated the sale of works of art. The art market is necessarily secretive, but documentary evidence states that he was instrumental in negotiating the sale of two landscapes by Claude Lorraine to Sir William Cavendish. Records also show that he handled a manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci and a sculpture by Giambologna.

Thomas Patch after Paolo Uccello
Sir John Hawkwood
Engraving
Published 1771
Private Collection

Sir John Hawkwood (c. 1323–1394) was born in Sible Hedingham, Essex, and fought at the battles of Crécy (1346) and Poiters (1356), after which he joined the White Company, a band of English and German mercenaries. Hawkwood became the leader of the group and fought with great skill and ingenuity in both France and Italy. Patch’s print is taken from the equestrian fresco by Paolo Uccello (1397–1475) that was commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici in 1436 for the Duomo in Florence.

Thomas Patch after Nicholas Poussin
Self-portrait
Engraving
Published 1769
Private Collection

This print reflects the close commercial cooperation between Patch and Sir Horace Mann. To supplement their incomes, both men dealt in paintings and sculpture. The portrait, no longer considered to be by or of Poussin, was sold to John, 3rd Earl of Bute, shortly after this print was made. The attribution of the painting to Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) is now rejected, and his contemporary, the painter Jacques Blanchard (1600–1638), has been suggested as its author.