ATTRIBUTED TO ALEXANDER RUNCIMAN (SCOTTISH 1736-1785)

APOLLO AND ARTEMIS
stamped with collector mark T.H. (Lugt 2432) and the eye cypher (Lugt 2793) lower left
pencil, pen and brown ink and wash on paper
26 x 46.5cm; 10 1/4 x 18 1/4in
53.5 x 66cm; 21 x 26in (framed)

Property from a Private Collection, Kew

Provenance
Thomas Hudson, London (Lugt 2432). In his day Hudson (British, 1701-1779) was the leading portrait painter in London. He counted Joshua Reynolds among his students.
Nathaniel Hone RA, London (Lugt 2793). Hone (Irish, 1718-1784) was a portraitist and miniature painter and a founding member of the Royal Academy.
The Manning Galleries Ltd, London
Edgar Seaton Hyde, Cheshire (acquired from the above in the 1960s)
Thence by descent

In the present work Apollo rides through the sky silhouetted against the sun opposite his twin sister Artemis, her head profiled against the moon and in the company of a group of chaste nymphs. Sagittarius in the form of a centaur is to Apollo's right. The subject derives from the top section of the etching by Pietro Testa (1611-1650), of the Allegory of Autumn. Not shown in the present work, but present in the lower part of Testa's etching, a drunken Silenus with the god Pan leads a lustful parade of satyrs and centaurs to honour the return of Bacchus from his travels through India.

The sheet is taped along the top edge. There is some slight fading to the sheet consistent with age. There is an old repaired tear to the upper left hand corner. There are some small spots of light foxing. Both the repaired loss and foxing are visible in the calalogue illustration. There is a small piece of tape to each lower corner consistent with the sheet being previously stuck down along the lower edge. There is some slight buckling to the right and left edges of the sheet. The work would benefit from remounting in a conservation mount. Otherwise, the sheet is in good overall condition for a work of its age.