John Robert Cozens (1752–99)
Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome
1780
Watercolor and gray ink washes over graphite
Samuel Courtauld Trust: Spooner Bequest, 1967
An imposing fortress and prison on the banks of the Tiber River, the Castel Sant'Angelo was a favorite subject for artists working in Rome in the eighteenth century. Cozens has eliminated incidental detail, emphasizing instead the castle's forbidding bulk and its reflection in the water.