A fascinating pair of pastel portraits and a drawing by an influential Victorian teacher have been left to the Holburne by a benefactor in Pewsey.
The Head of My Son is a chalk and wash drawing by James Mathews Leigh (1808-60), a pupil of William Etty. His son Henry Sambrooke Leigh (1837-83) was a successful poet. In 1841, about the time this drawing was made, Leigh founded a painting school in London. His pupils included DG Rossetti, Holman Hunt and Bath’s own Edwin Long. Leigh’s school is known today as the Heatherley School of Fine Art, the oldest independent art school in London.
Leigh’s drawing has come to us with a striking pair of pastel portraits made in London in 1799 by the intriguing Anna Tonelli (c. 1763 – 1846). Born in Florence, Tonelli married a violinist. In Italy her work was very popular with British Grand Tourists, particularly the Clive family, with whom she later travelled around India. The portraits depict Bishop Lewis Bagot (1740-1802) and his wife Mary Hay (d.1799).
