Patoun, William
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- Patoun, William
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(fl. 1761, d. 1783), painter and connoisseur, s. of a presbyterian parson in Renfrew.
1761 - 3 Naples (by 3 Nov. 1761), Rome (by 16 Jun. 1762 - May 1763), Florence (Jun.), Leghorn (Jun.), Parma, Genoa, Turin [England 20 Aug. 1763]
1763 - 4 see Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter
1768 - 9 Turin, Milan, Parma, Reggio, Modena, Bologna, Florence (4 Sep. - 21 Oct. 1768 - ), Naples (by 15 Nov. 1768), Rome (by 25 Jan. - Feb. 1769), Venice (11 Mar.) [Vienna, Apr. 1769]
1773 - 4 see Robert, 1st Baron Clive
1775 see George, 2nd Earl of Powis
'A Scottish gentleman of considerable learning and some taste in painting',1 Patoun made several tours in Italy, latterly as a knowledgable guide. But it appears to have been as a student of painting that he made his first protracted visit, of which only disjointed evidence survives. He was presumably the Dr Patoun in Naples in November 1761.2 He was first recorded in Rome in 1762, apparently on his own, 'a very great Critick in Painting', working 'most surprisingly in Miniature'.3 He was again in Rome in March 1763,4 and the following June was described as a Scotch physician 'of considerable learning' who had spent 'many months' in Rome and was then about to return to his home in Richmond.5 Patoun returned with Benjamin West via Florence, Parma, Genoa and Turin, to arrive in London on 20 August 1763.6
He soon returned to Italy, this time as a tutor to the young 9th Earl of Exeter and accompanied by a Mr Chambers, and it was largely on this experience that he was to compile his 'Advice on Travel' (see above, pp.xxxix - lii). They were in Turin in October 1763, leaving on the 12th for Florence on their way to Naples.7 On 16 October Exeter and Patoun were in Parma, and extracts from Patoun's account of the city have been published.8 James Martin met Chambers at dinner in Naples 31 December 1763, and on 15 January 1764 James Martin visited an unidentified painter's studio with Lord Exeter, Garrick and Patoun. Martin also mentioned a copy by Patoun of a Parmigianino Virgin and Child in the Capo di Monte, and of two Rests on the Flight into Egypt, one by Raphael, the other by Barocci, 'a most excellent copy' from the sketch in the Accademia di S.Luca.9 On 5 June 1764 Patoun left Rome with Lord Exeter and Chambers for Florence,10 where 'Guglielmo Patoun, Scozzeso' was elected to the Accademia del Disegno on 8 July 1764.(11) On 17 December 1765 Patoun was granted permission to export twenty paintings via Civitavecchia, and on 21 December a 'Lodovico Chambers', perhaps his companion Chambers, exported eighteen paintings (including two by Salvator Rosa).(12)
In 1768 Patoun accompanied Sir Gregory Turner and Richard Jodrell to Italy. Turner told his uncle they had passed through Milan, Parma, Reggio, Modena and Bologna 'in all of which towns I saw several fine original pictures, as Mr Patoun tells me, for I do not pretend to be a judge myself'.(13) In October 1768 they attended the dinner in Florence held to celebrate Horace Mann's investiture with the Order of the Bath.14 Turner, Jodrell and Patoun were dining with Lord Exeter (who had returned to Italy) in Naples on 29 November and were still together in January and February 1769 in Rome. Jodrell then stayed in Rome while Turner and Patoun travelled north, arriving in Venice on 11 March.15 In April they were in Vienna. Jodrell meanwhile was following a course of antiquities in Rome under Colin Morison with William Drake.16
In 1773 - 4 Patoun accompanied a somewhat depressed Lord Clive (Robert Clive of India) to Italy on his brief tour undertaken to form a collection of pictures (see Clive). Thomas Jenkins mentioned him buying pictures (including a Tintoretto) in Rome in January 1774.17 Patoun and Clive were in Rome in March, but had left by April. He was conceivably the 'Patton cav. inglese' who commissioned a copy of a Rosso Fiorentino Angel in the Uffizi in January 1774.18
In October 1775 Patoun was travelling to Naples with the 2nd Earl of Powis, whom he was said to 'overcloud' to the extent that they were known as 'Mr Powys and Lord Patoun'; Father Thorpe now described Patoun as 'the celebrated Scots Connoisseur',19 see Powis.
Of Patoun's original paintings, James Byres owned a Portrait of a Frascatan Girl 'by W. Patoun'20 and a Female Head 'by Dr Patune'.21 In England Patoun lived at Richmond and was apparently consulted on matters of painting by Richard Cambridge, Daniel Wray and Lord Hardwicke.22 Patoun's collections were dispersed at Christie's in 1783 (14 - 15, 26 - 28 Mar.). A portrait of 'Robert Patoune', shown with his arm resting on a book inscribed L. Da Vinci, is attributed to Nathaniel Dance (priv. coll.).23
1. Galt, West, 1:143. 2. Fleming, Adam, 375. 3. Dance letters MSS (G. Dance, 16 Jun. 1762). 4. Seafield MSS, GD 248/49/2 (D. Crespin, 11 Mar. 1763). 5. R.C. Alberts, Benjamin West, 54 (Rutherfurd, 21 Jun. 1762). 6. Galt, West, 1:143 - 5; 2:1, 5. 7. SP 105/315, f.276 (Dutens, 12 Oct. 1763). 8. By F. Razzetti, Gazz.di Parma, 17 Sep. 1984. MS Journal of a
tour to Italy, Nottingham U. lib., MSS 244/2d. 9. Martin jnl.MSS (15 Jan., 3, 7 May, 3, 12 Jun. 1764). 10. Ibid. (5 Jun. 1764). 11. Wynne 1990, 537. 12. ASR aba 11, ff.283 - 4. 13. Turner letters MSS (1 Oct. 1768). 14. Gazz. Tosc. 15. ASV is 759. 16. Drake letters MSS (19 Feb. 1769). 17. Townley MSS (19 Jan. 1774). 18. Borroni 1987:134; 1991:271. 19. Thorpe letters MSS (12 Mar. 1774, 21 Oct., 20 Dec. 1775). 20. Byres MSS (Byres inv.1790). 21. Ch.Irvine to Byres, 26 Apr. 1817 (priv. coll.). 22. Whitley, 1:196. 23. CL, 10 Oct. 1974, 998.