Thomas Jenkins (antiquary)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Jenkins was a British antiquary and minor painter who went to Rome
accompanying the English landscape painter Richard Wilson
about 1750 and remained behind, establishing himself in the city by serving as cicerone
and sometime banker to the visiting British, becoming a dealer in Roman sculpture
and antiquities
to a largely British clientele and an agent for gentlemen who wished a portrait or portrait bust as a memento of the Grand Tour
.
Jenkins' often unpleasantly self-serving maneuvers to keep artists in Rome from direct contact with visiting potential clients appear like a leitmotiv in the series of letters written from Rome and Tivoli in 1758 by the artist Jonathan Skelton, slandered as a "Jacobite" by Jenkins. Among the antiquities that passed through his hands, often improved by Roman sculpture restorers like Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
, was the Discobolus
discovered in Hadrian's Villa
, which Jenkins sold to Charles Townley: the Townley Discobolus is in the British Museum
. Jenkins also exported paintings to London. Jenkins was also instrumental in the formation of Lord Shelburne, later Lord Lansdowne
's collection of antiquities and the collection formed by Henry Weddell on his Grand Tour in 1765-66, at Ince Blundell Hall
, Lancashire, notably the "Jenkins Venus" (also known as the "Barberini Venus
") from Palazzo Barberini
. Jenkins' sculptures also went, at secondhand, to form the collection at the Hermitage
, St. Petersburg, when Catherine's agents bought the Lyde Browne
collection at Wimbledon, which had largely been purchased through Jenkins.
In 1770, a papal dispensation from Pope Clement XIV
enabled Jenkins and the painter-dealer Gavin Hamilton
to manage the dispersal of the Mattei antiquities, which had formed one of the most-visited private collections in Rome. Clement made a first selection for his Museo Pio-Clementino at the Vatican before permitting export, with Jenkins and Hamilton acting as agents for Don Giuseppe Mattei. By the time the three volumes of Monumenta Mattheiana were issued, 1776–79, most of the Mattei marbles, some bought by Jenkins directly, were no longer in Italy.
Jenkins also dealt in modern works of sculpture: in 1786 he purchased Gian Lorenzo Bernini
's Neptune and Glaucus from the gardens of Villa Montalto
; as a consequence, conserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum, it is the only Bernini sculpture in the UK.
Jenkins kept an apartment in a palazzo in the via del Corso
, in the heart of Rome, in the area that was most frequented by the foreigners, between Piazza di Spagna, with its Caffè Inglese, and Piazza del Popolo
. Essential to Jenkins' modus vivendi was that he was known to everyone, owners of saleable antiquities, Roman and foreign artists and sculptors, and antiquaries like Cardinal Alessandro Albani and Johann Joachim Winckelmann
.
From the 1750s, Jenkins was closely involved with Giovanni Battista Piranesi
, who dedicated to him the frontispiece of his Raccolta di alcuni disegni del Guercino (1764). Jenkins was elected an Honorary Fellow of the London Society of Antiquaries
in 1757, the same year Piranesi was elected, and they were elected together to the Accademia di San Luca
in January 1761. (Jenkins did not deliver the official portrait that membership in the Accademia required until 1791; it is by Anton Maron
.) Jenkins kept up a constant correspondence with the Society of Antiquaries, and sent them at intervals his drawings of recently-discovered antiquities, not all of which were for sale through his agencies. A series was published in 1965.
More privately Jenkins also acted as an unofficial spy for the British government, keeping watch on the comings and goings of visitors with Jacobite
sympathies at the seat of the Stuart Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart
. This gave him a shady reputation, particularly among Scottish visitors. James Adam, brother of the architect Robert Adam
, heard of Jenkins in Florence, even before he reached Rome, and took him for a countryman: "We have another excellent countryman at Rome who plays his cards there to admiration: Bob
will remember him — his name is Jenkins. Last winter he sold no less than £5000 worth of pictures &ca. to the English of which every person of any knowledge is convinced he put £4000 in his pocket." Andrew Lumisden reported to his brother-in-law Robert Strange (November 1760) that Jenkins had long been noted "for his villainies. However by consummate impudence joined to the honourable office of spy, he gets himself recommended to many of the English travellers".
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
accompanying the English landscape painter Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson (painter)
Richard Wilson was a Welsh landscape painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Wilson has been described as '...the most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country.' He is considered to be the...
about 1750 and remained behind, establishing himself in the city by serving as cicerone
Cicerone
Cicerone is an old term for a guide, one who conducts visitors and sightseers to museums, galleries, etc., and explains matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historic or artistic interest. The word is presumably taken from Marcus Tullius Cicero, as a type of learning and eloquence...
and sometime banker to the visiting British, becoming a dealer in Roman sculpture
Roman sculpture
The study of ancient Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies." At one time, this imitation was taken by art...
and antiquities
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
to a largely British clientele and an agent for gentlemen who wished a portrait or portrait bust as a memento of the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
.
Jenkins' often unpleasantly self-serving maneuvers to keep artists in Rome from direct contact with visiting potential clients appear like a leitmotiv in the series of letters written from Rome and Tivoli in 1758 by the artist Jonathan Skelton, slandered as a "Jacobite" by Jenkins. Among the antiquities that passed through his hands, often improved by Roman sculpture restorers like Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi was an Italian sculptor who worked in Rome, where he trained in the studio of the acclimatized Frenchman, Pierre-Étienne Monnot, and then in the workshop of Carlo Antonio Napolioni, a restorer of sculptures for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who was to become a major patron of...
, was the Discobolus
Discobolus
The Discobolus of Myron is a famous Greek sculpture that was completed towards the end of the Severe period, circa 460-450 BC. The original Greek bronze is lost...
discovered in Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa
The Hadrian's Villa is a large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy.- History :The villa was constructed at Tibur as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD...
, which Jenkins sold to Charles Townley: the Townley Discobolus is in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Jenkins also exported paintings to London. Jenkins was also instrumental in the formation of Lord Shelburne, later Lord Lansdowne
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC , known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782–1783 during the final...
's collection of antiquities and the collection formed by Henry Weddell on his Grand Tour in 1765-66, at Ince Blundell Hall
Ince Blundell
Ince Blundell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, England but historically in Lancashire. It is situated to the north of Liverpool on the A565 road and to the east of the village of Hightown...
, Lancashire, notably the "Jenkins Venus" (also known as the "Barberini Venus
Barberini Venus
The Barberini Venus, Jenkins Venus or Weddell Venus, is a copy from the Aphrodite of Cnidus, along the lines of the Venus de Medici...
") from Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini is a palace in Rome, facing the piazza of the same name in Rione Trevi and is home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.-History:...
. Jenkins' sculptures also went, at secondhand, to form the collection at the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
, St. Petersburg, when Catherine's agents bought the Lyde Browne
Lyde Browne (antiquary)
Lyde Browne was an 18th century English antiquary and banker, who owned one of the largest antiquities collections of the time...
collection at Wimbledon, which had largely been purchased through Jenkins.
In 1770, a papal dispensation from Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV , born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 1769 to 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals.-Early life:...
enabled Jenkins and the painter-dealer Gavin Hamilton
Gavin Hamilton (artist)
Gavin Hamilton was a Scottish neoclassical history painterwho is more widely remembered for his hunts for antiquities in the neighborhood of Rome...
to manage the dispersal of the Mattei antiquities, which had formed one of the most-visited private collections in Rome. Clement made a first selection for his Museo Pio-Clementino at the Vatican before permitting export, with Jenkins and Hamilton acting as agents for Don Giuseppe Mattei. By the time the three volumes of Monumenta Mattheiana were issued, 1776–79, most of the Mattei marbles, some bought by Jenkins directly, were no longer in Italy.
Jenkins also dealt in modern works of sculpture: in 1786 he purchased Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
's Neptune and Glaucus from the gardens of Villa Montalto
Alessandro Peretti di Montalto
Alessandro Damasceni Peretti di Montalto was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal Deacon. He received the title by his uncle Felice Peretti after the latter was elected Pope Sixtus V on April 24, 1585, in the consistory on May 13; the cardinal was then fourteen years old...
; as a consequence, conserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum, it is the only Bernini sculpture in the UK.
Jenkins kept an apartment in a palazzo in the via del Corso
Via del Corso
The Via del Corso , commonly known as the Corso, is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is remarkable for being absolutely straight in an area characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas...
, in the heart of Rome, in the area that was most frequented by the foreigners, between Piazza di Spagna, with its Caffè Inglese, and Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.The piazza lies inside the northern...
. Essential to Jenkins' modus vivendi was that he was known to everyone, owners of saleable antiquities, Roman and foreign artists and sculptors, and antiquaries like Cardinal Alessandro Albani and Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art...
.
From the 1750s, Jenkins was closely involved with Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
, who dedicated to him the frontispiece of his Raccolta di alcuni disegni del Guercino (1764). Jenkins was elected an Honorary Fellow of the London Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
in 1757, the same year Piranesi was elected, and they were elected together to the Accademia di San Luca
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca, was founded in 1577 as an association of artists in Rome, under the directorship of Federico Zuccari, with the purpose of elevating the work of "artists", which included painters, sculptors and architects, above that of mere craftsmen. Other founders included Girolamo...
in January 1761. (Jenkins did not deliver the official portrait that membership in the Accademia required until 1791; it is by Anton Maron
Anton von Maron
Anton von Maron was an Austrian painter, active in Rome.Von Maron was born in Vienna, but moved at a young age to Rome. There, he studied under Anton Raphael Mengs, and became an accomplished portrait painter. He married a sister of Mengs, Therese Maron, who was a painter in her own right...
.) Jenkins kept up a constant correspondence with the Society of Antiquaries, and sent them at intervals his drawings of recently-discovered antiquities, not all of which were for sale through his agencies. A series was published in 1965.
More privately Jenkins also acted as an unofficial spy for the British government, keeping watch on the comings and goings of visitors with Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
sympathies at the seat of the Stuart Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
. This gave him a shady reputation, particularly among Scottish visitors. James Adam, brother of the architect Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
, heard of Jenkins in Florence, even before he reached Rome, and took him for a countryman: "We have another excellent countryman at Rome who plays his cards there to admiration: Bob
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
will remember him — his name is Jenkins. Last winter he sold no less than £5000 worth of pictures &ca. to the English of which every person of any knowledge is convinced he put £4000 in his pocket." Andrew Lumisden reported to his brother-in-law Robert Strange (November 1760) that Jenkins had long been noted "for his villainies. However by consummate impudence joined to the honourable office of spy, he gets himself recommended to many of the English travellers".