(1723 - 1805)
1768 - 72 Turin ( - 10 Nov. 1768), Padua, Venice and the Veneto (22 Nov. 1768 - Sep. 1770), Florence (by 6 Oct.), Rome (27 Oct. - 24 Nov.), Naples (by 11 Dec. 1770 - 28 Jan. 1771), Calabria [Corfu Apr.] Venice (Oct. 1771 - Mar. 1772)
General Pattison served the Republic of Venice, where he and his wife were based for some four years. His letters from Italy to his brother Nathaniel1 describe his constant travelling within the Veneto and his military duties, which also had their social side. From Verona on 16 November 1769 he wrote of 'such an inundation of of Marcheses, Contes, Contessa's etc. etc. that every day has been spent in receiving and returning visits'. In March 1770 he was given a picture by Cignaroli with the arms of Verona on the frame (21 Mar.); his letters show he was an intelligent tourist as his duties permitted, although at Bassano the 'most celebrated works of the great painter Giacomo da Ponte [Jacopo Bassano]' made him feel a strong urge 'to commit sacrilege'.
In August 1770 he was asked to inspect Venetian establishments in Dalmatia, Albania and the Levant. He left Venice in September 1770 and travelled leisurely to Naples. On 6 October he was reported in Florence,2 where Horace Mann gave him an introduction to Cardinal Albani.3 He spent most of November in Rome and then spent two months in Naples, where he arrived in December.4 He explored Calabria before going on to Corfu in April 1771. On completing his tour of inspection, he returned to Venice in October 1771. He was last recorded there ('con moglie') in March 1772.5 In the posthumous sale of Pattison's London mansion in 1805 (Christie's, 24 May) there were a number of Venetian pictures, including five paintings by Guardi.6
1. Notes by F. Russell. 2. Gazz.Tosc. 3. SP 105/320, f.232 (Albani, 31 Oct. 1770). 4. SP 93/25 (Hamilton, 11 Dec. 1770). 5. ASV is 759. 6. F. Russell, Burl.Mag., 138[1996]:11.