Reference code
NOR/44
Title
J. Northcote, Rome, to Sam. Northcote, Plymouth, Devonshire, England
Date
11 Sep 1778
Level
Item
Extent & medium
1 piece
Content Description
The extreme heat has caused great illness among the city's poor; he drinks only wine and avoids fruit; he is delighted that his picture has been requested by the [Uffizi] Gallery, this has aroused envy among English and Florentine artists; he talks politics with a Dominican friar, whom he admires and hopes to paint, and has made sketches of the Sistine Chapel;
Zoffany makes spiteful remarks about him and
Sir Joshua; he describes the rivalry between
Mengs and
Pompeo Batoni.