Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798). A Scottish artist in Rome

Descendent of a Scottish noble family, educated at the University of Glasgow and settled in Rome in 1748, Gavin Hamilton was a singular figure as artist, intellectual and art dealer.  He interpreted in a broad and systematic way the lure of the capital and its classical past, anticipating and conditioning the emerging neoclassic vision of the end of the century.

In the course of Hamilton’s long career, Homer and his world constituted a central theme of reflection both in ethics and art, and in 1784-85 this culminated in the decoration of the room dedicated to Paris and Helena in the residence of Marcantonio IV at Villa Borghese.

Evidence of the sequence of events leading up to the dispersion of the collections and works, three large paintings from the room of Paris and Helena are now conserved at the Museo di Roma.  These canvases will be the starting point for an

account of the life and works of this northern painter who was so impassioned about the ancient world, who was the centre of a dense network of cultural and commercial relationships, typical of the Roman art scene during the second half of the 1700’s.

Guided tour by Rossella Leone.