Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome

Following his return to England in 1779, Cozens executed large watercolours some of which were based on smaller drawings he would have sketched on locations in Rome. Castel Sant’Angelo, the imposing circular fortress on the banks of the river Tiber, was a favourite subject of foreign artists working in Rome in the eighteenth century. Cozens has stripped away incidental detail, emphasising instead the castle’s forbidding bulk and its reflection in the water. The sombre palette and expressive, painterly handling of watercolour strongly influenced younger British artists.