Septr –
Florence
Dear Henry
I have decided on taking for you the Ezekiel <1> you saw not only because it is the one you saw & approved but because with the exception of the fresher colouring, it is an exact copy – the other was a study done by Colzi <2> to see what the picture would have been, with some little defects of drawing which all connoisseurs are agreed upon, corrected, & then coloured & varnished to imitate the worn state in which the original is at present. Mr Irvine says he has really succeeded in it but I would not venture to substitute it for the picture you saw, tho I give Colzi credit for having done it. As to the insurance Mr Irvine says that is best done in England & is effected on the bill of lading when it arrives – it shall be sent you & as the whole package will be insured mine & yours together you will be so good as to pay for me & we will settle the acct after with the pictures.
I shall soon go to Venice & perhaps to Trieste – & Pola.
Yr Affte
W T H F S
Henry Talbot Esq
31 Sackville Street
London
Notes:
1. Possibly a copy of Raphael’s Vision of Ezekiel (in the Pitti Palace). [See Doc. No: 01450].
2. One of the painters who copied Renaissance paintings for connoisseurs.
3. Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield (1795–1854).
4. Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton (1774–1848), financier & statesman.
5. Probably Capt Daniel Roberts (1789-1869), who also designed yachts for Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.