Tombs of the Scaligers, Verona

JAMES HOLLAND
Burslem 1800-1870 London

The Tombs of the Scaligeri, Verona

Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1835 three times
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
288 x 213 mm., 11 ¼ x 8 ¼ in.

This dates from Holland's first trip to Italy. He left London in July 1835 and reached Geneva in late October. On 29th October he reached Milan and stopped at Verona on his way to Venice. The Scaligeri were a dynasty who ruled Verona in the 13th and 14th century and their family tombs are just off the Piazza dei Signori in Verona. Holland may have been influenced in his choice of subject by Richard Parkes Bonington, an artist he much admired, who visited the city in 1826 and also drew the tombs.

This may be the watercolour of this title exhibited at the Society of Painters in Water-colours in 1837, no. 55.