Sketches from Italian paintings, by Fairfax Murray

An image of Book of sketches from Italian paintings. Fairfax Murray, Charles (British, 1849-1919). Vellum bound sketchbook containing ff, and one front end paper, height, sheet size, 249 mm, width, sheet size, 186 mm, 1873-1875. Notes: Murray was in Siena in early May 1873, having delayed his visit to Rome due to ill health. He had been commissioned by Ruskin to make copies after Botticelli's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, intending them to be put at the disposal of the Arundel Society, but in the event he made his first copies in Siena, where Ruskin instructed him to 'make what you can of the Peace' and the 'pretty virtues' in Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Allegory of Good Government' in the Palazzo Pubblico (1338-1341) (quoted exh. cat., 1993, p. 100). In answer to a letter from Murray asking for more specific instructions, Ruskin wrote, 'I can only say - do any face that strikes you - In this composition I care more for completeness of record, than for accurate copying. There is nothing in it that I esteem exquisite as painting: but all is invaluable as design and emotion. Do it as thoroughly as you can, pleasantly to yourself. For me - the Justice and Concord are importantest' (ALS, Morgan MA 2150/17; quoted exh. cat., 1993, p. 100). For Ruskin's account of Lorenzetti's particular interpretation of the three theological virutes, see 'The Political Economy of Art', 1857, Cook and Wedderburn, 'Works...', 1903-12, XVI, 54. A finished copy after Lorenzetti's fresco (bodycolour, 396 x 940 mm) is in the Ruskin Galleries, Bembridge School, Bembridge, Isle of Wight (Bem. 375; exh. 1993, no. 187). Inscription(s): Front cover; MS label; Charles Fairfax Murray / (1849-1919) / Book of Sketches from Italian Paintings. / Bequeathed by J.R. Holliday, Aug. 1927. Folio 1 recto, top; brown ink; Charles Fairfax Murray.

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Book of sketches from Italian paintings. Fairfax Murray, Charles (British, 1849-1919). Vellum bound sketchbook containing ff, and one front end paper, height, sheet size, 249 mm, width, sheet size, 186 mm, 1873-1875. Notes: Murray was in Siena in early May 1873, having delayed his visit to Rome due to ill health. He had been commissioned by Ruskin to make copies after Botticelli's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, intending them to be put at the disposal of the Arundel Society, but in the event he made his first copies in Siena, where Ruskin instructed him to 'make what you can of the Peace' and the 'pretty virtues' in Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Allegory of Good Government' in the Palazzo Pubblico (1338-1341) (quoted exh. cat., 1993, p. 100). In answer to a letter from Murray asking for more specific instructions, Ruskin wrote, 'I can only say - do any face that strikes you - In this composition I care more for completeness of record, than for accurate copying. There is nothing in it that I esteem exquisite as painting: but all is invaluable as design and emotion. Do it as thoroughly as you can, pleasantly to yourself. For me - the Justice and Concord are importantest' (ALS, Morgan MA 2150/17; quoted exh. cat., 1993, p. 100). For Ruskin's account of Lorenzetti's particular interpretation of the three theological virutes, see 'The Political Economy of Art', 1857, Cook and Wedderburn, 'Works...', 1903-12, XVI, 54. A finished copy after Lorenzetti's fresco (bodycolour, 396 x 940 mm) is in the Ruskin Galleries, Bembridge School, Bembridge, Isle of Wight (Bem. 375; exh. 1993, no. 187). Inscription(s): Front cover; MS label; Charles Fairfax Murray / (1849-1919) / Book of Sketches from Italian Paintings. / Bequeathed by J.R. Holliday, Aug. 1927. Folio 1 recto, top; brown ink; Charles Fairfax Murray.

Image data

Accession Number: 1402
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/19.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Katie Young
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 783 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 614.01kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 19/1

Key words

19th Century arch arched arches architectural architecture attendants Baby Jesus bed bedchamber biblical birth Charles Fairfax Murray Christ child Christianity Christmas curtains drawing English Fairfax Murray female Fitz_PDP infant Christ Italian Joseph maids maidservant Mary and Joseph midwife midwifery mother and child New Testament religious Renaissance sketch sketchbook sketches vaulted vaults Virgin and Child Virgin Mary Xmas

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Sketches from Italian paintings, by Fairfax Murray"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-217546 Accessed: 2024-11-05 08:28:46

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:


            {{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-217546
            |title=Sketches from Italian paintings, by Fairfax Murray
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 08:28:46|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/images/media-217544

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/1402_f11_201508_kly25_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Book of sketches from Italian paintings"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Sketches from Italian paintings, by Fairfax Murray</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>