Villa of Maecenas

Seymour Haden was the unlikely combination of a surgeon and an etcher. Although he pursued a very successful medical career, he is mostly remembered for his etched work as well as for his writings on etching. He was one of a group of artists, including James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) and Alphonse Legros (1837–1911), whose passionate interest in the medium led to the so-called etching revival, a period that lasted well into the twentieth century. The extolling of etching for its inherent spontaneous qualities reached its pinnacle during this time. While the line of the etching needle, Haden wrote, was "free, expressive, full of vivacity," that of the burin was "cold, constrained, uninteresting," and "without identity."
Tree at left; villa in background on cliff; water at right.
"Once thought to be the Villa of Maecenas, this architectural complex is now identified as the sanctuary of Hercules, built in the first century B.C. Situated on the edge of the cliff, it is east of the ancient Lain town TIbor, a civitas foederata of Rome. This town was a favorite resort of patricians and is known to have been the site of elegant villas built by Maecenas and others. Haden's journals at Glasgow University Library mention his visit to Tivoli on April 16, 1844.
The print is in the same direction as the preliminary sketch in BMPD. The drawing is annotated 'Mecenas Villa at Tivoli April 17 1844.'
State I: A view of an ancient rectangular building situated on the crest of a cliff."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 45]
"Trial Proof: (a) One impression only; touched with brown chalk, and in the collection of Harris B. Dick. The original drawing from which the plate was etched is in Coll. H."
[Source: Harrington, p. 3]