PATCH, Thomas - b. 1725 Exeter, d. 1782 Firenze - WGA

PATCH, Thomas

(b. 1725 Exeter, d. 1782 Firenze)

English painter and engraver, active in Italy. He was the son of a doctor and was expected to become an apothecary. In 1747 he travelled to Rome, where he met Joshua Reynolds and worked in the studio of Claude-Joseph Vernet, producing pastiches of Vernet’s work and his own views of Tivoli. However, in 1755 Patch was banished from the Papal States for some homosexual act and settled in Florence. His friendship with the British envoy Sir Horace Mann provided him with introductions to English tourists, who commissioned copies after the Old Masters and views of Florence, such as the Piazza della Signoria (1763; City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth).

During the 1760s he painted caricature groups of the painters, dealers and Grand Tourists of Anglo-Florentine society. He also made an extensive study of varying types of faces and expressions (destroyed). The caricatures are of a type also painted by Reynolds and include the Punch Party (1760; Dunham Massey, Cheshire) and Golden Asses (1761; Yale University, Lewis Walpole Library, New Haven); together with his two sets of engraved caricatures, they provide a light-hearted reminder of the serious physiognomical study. A further series of books of engravings after Masaccio, Fra Bartolommeo, Giotto and Ghiberti, produced in the 1770s, are evidence of Patch’s scholarly interest in early Italian art. He was also engaged in art dealing.

It seems that he painted little towards the end of his life. He died in Florence on 30th April 1782 after suffering a stroke and after a sojourn in Italy of 35 years.

British Gentlemen at Sir Horace Mann's Home in Florence
British Gentlemen at Sir Horace Mann's Home in Florence by

British Gentlemen at Sir Horace Mann's Home in Florence

In this canvas the painter depicts himself with the consul Horace Mann. The role of consuls in Italy between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was exceptionally important because these men were de facto ambassadors.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (1)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (1) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (1)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the first scene: the Annunciation to Zacharias.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (2)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (2) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (2)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the second scene: the Visitation.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (3)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (3) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (3)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the third scene: the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (4)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (4) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (4)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the fourth scene: the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (5)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (5) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (5)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the fifth scene: the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist.

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (6)
Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (6) by

Fresco scenes from the Manetti Chapel (6)

In 1348, (Gio)Vanni Manetti del Buono wrote instructions in his will that his chapel dedicated to John the Baptist (his name saint) in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence should be painted. The fresco cycle devoted to scenes from the life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel was identified on the basis of engravings made by Thomas Patch in 1772.

The decoration of the chapel, situated to the right of the choir, consisted of six scenes from the life of St John the Baptist: the Annunciation to Zacharias; the Visitation; the Birth and Naming of John the Baptist; the Baptist preaching in the Desert and the Baptism; the Decollation and Burial of the Baptist; the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

The frescoes were already in poor condition in 1763-64 when they were restored. When the church of the Carmine was largely destroyed by fire in 1771, they suffered comparatively little. Patch made the engravings in 1772 and removed some fragments from the wall, the rest was presumably destroyed in the reconstruction of the church. There are twelve fragments to survive.

Patch’s engravings are a very rough rendering of the style of the originals, but he copied the compositions with considerable exactness. The picture shows the sixth scene: the Baptist visited in Prison by Two Apostles and the Feast of Herod.

View of an Italian Harbour
View of an Italian Harbour by

View of an Italian Harbour

The painting shows a view of an Italian harbour (probably Livorno) with a group of figures on the quayside listening to a musician playing a mandolin.

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