Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of

(1713 - 92), statesman, e. s. of 2nd E. of Bute [S]; suc. fa. 1723 as 3rd E.; educ. Eton; m. 1736 Mary Wortley Montagu; KT 1738; KG 1762; Prime Minister 1762 - 3; BM Trustee 1765 - 92; Pres. SA 1780 - 92.

1768 - 9 [dep. London 2 Aug.] Venice (mid-Nov. 1768), Rome (28 Dec. 1768 - 13 Jan. 1769 - ), Naples (by 14 Feb. - 1 Mar.), Rome, Florence (three days), Siena, Leghorn, Lerici, Genoa (1 Apr.), Turin, Milan, Venice [London 21 Jul.].

1769 - 71 [dep. Dover 5 Nov.] Valdagno (by 18 Dec. 1769), Venice (by 23 Jan. 1770), Valdagno (mid-May - after 14 Jun.), Mogliano (by 25 Aug.), Venice (by 8 Oct. 1770 - 15 Apr. 1771) [London 24 May]

Although Bute did not make the grand tour in his youth, he was closely informed of opportunities for collecting in Italy long before his own departure for the Continent, largely for reasons of health, in 1768. As the former favourite of King George III and Prime Minister, his movements were watched with close attention. Although by travelling as the Chevalier Stuart, with his son Charles and a small establishment, Bute sought to avoid notice, he availed himself of the services of many key figures, including Sir James Wright, Robert Richie and later John Strange in Venice, the Abb? Grant and James Byres in Rome, William Hamilton in Naples, Horace Mann in Florence and John Symonds. The extant correspondence illuminates Bute's connection with these men, but it does not offer comprehensive documentation of the collections Bute built up when in Italy.1

On 17 October 1768 Bute wrote to Wright asking him to find a house in Venice. While there he evidently placed commissions with the Resident and also conceived the idea of forming a collection of views of the buildings he admired in Italy, employing Visentini and a number of younger draughtsmen, including F. Bocher and Luigi Trezza (for views of Verona).

Bute's intention to winter in Rome was known to Father Thorpe by 22 November and he arrived on the 28th.2 A detailed account of his life there is given by Grant in a letter to Hamilton (13 Jan. 1769).3 Bute saw the sights with Symonds, and also employed Byres, who would execute his later Roman commissions. Among artists patronised in a minor way were Hugh Dean, James Forrester and, perhaps, Anne Forbes. Hamilton, an old acquaintance, offered his services in Naples, where, however, Symonds was Bute's companion as sightseer. The Earl's party dined twice with the Hamiltons and he climbed Vesuvius. Orders were placed through Hamilton with his prot?g? Fabris and for boxes and fans. Plans to visit Sicily were shelved, and Bute returned to Rome, spraining his ankle en route. During his brief visit to Florence, he bought a supposed self-portrait of Poussin from Mann, as well as scagliola and two alabaster vases. He travelled northwards by way of Genoa and Turin to Venice, where a number of pictures, including two by Veronese and, apparently, Tiepolo's Finding of Moses (SNG), were bought. Bute's journal of his route north from Venice records his admiration of Giorgione's Castelfranco altarpiece.

Bute's health collapsed after he reached London and he was persuaded to return to a 'warm climate'. He left Dover on 5 November and went directly to Valdagno, and thence to Venice for the late winter. In May he was back at Valdagno and later in the summer he moved to Mogliano before returning to Venice where he remained from October 1770 until April 1771. Letters to Sir James Wright, who was then in London, illuminate Bute's mood at the time and he also corresponded with Mann, Hamilton and Byres. In Venice Pietro Edwards and Robert Richie assisted Bute, who formed a close friendship with John Strange after the latter's arrival. Much of Bute's time was devoted to natural history. He built up a notable library of Italian books, securing that of one branch of the Soranzo family en bloc, and undertook a number of publishing ventures. It may also be presumed that he secured the majority of the Venetian cinquecento canvases later recorded at Luton Park.

Bute considered returning to Venice later in the 1770s. He corresponded regularly with Strange, and continued to communicate with Hamilton and Byres about individual commissions. Both helped the Earl to secure architectural drawings, while Strange supplied numerous publications and specimens, loosely overseeing the work of the Earl's botanical artist, Baldassare Cattrani. In 1786 Byres supervised the erection of a monument to the Abb? Grant in the Scots College, Rome, at Bute's expense (231 crowns).

1. This account is taken from the Bute MSS. 2. Verri, Cart., 2:106. 3. NLS, acc.no.4560.

F. R.