| Thomas Patch | |
|---|---|
Self portrait[1] |
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| Born | 13 March 1725 Exeter |
| Died | 30 April 1782 Florence |
| Education | Medicine |
| Occupation | painter |
Thomas Patch (1725 – 1782) was an English painter, engraver and caricaturist. He made a living by basing himself in Italy and undertaking commissions from rich young British men on Grand tours. His paintings today are in the Royal Collection and various museums. Patch was thrown out of Rome probably for a homosexual act.
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Patch was born in Exeter in 1725, the son of a doctor.[1] He had not completed his medical studies when he came to Rome in 1747[2] as a grand tourist[3] and where he met Joshua Reynolds. Initially he worked for Joseph Vernet, creating landscapes of Tivoli and pastiches of Vernet's work.[1] He was forced to leave Rome after some homosexual act.[4] He was in Florence in 1755, where he was commissioned to paint people on their Grand tours.[5] Here he was assisted by his friendship with Sir Horatio Mann, who was the British envoy and therefore a point of contact with British tourists arriving in Florence.[6]
While there he completed studies of human physiognomy, looking at the expressions and facial types as well as completing portraits of many in the British society in Florence. He also studied the old masters and published studies of them. Towards the end of his life his output of paintings slowed.[6] Patch was also known to be an art dealer.[1]
In about 1763, Patch completed three views of Florence that are now part of the Royal Collection. They are thought to have been bought by George III.[8] On October 19, 1767, he was enterprising enough to witness the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius which he painted from both the land and the sea.[3]
In 1772, Patch published The life of Frá Bartolommeo della Porta, a Tuscan painter, with his works, engraved from the original pictures, dedicated, to the Honourable Horace Walpole, an Intelligent Promoter of the fine Arts, by his most Obedient and most humble Servant Thomas Patch in Florence.[9]
There are self-portraits of Patch and he also appears in Johann Zoffany's "The Tribuna of The Uffizi", where he is talking to Sir Horace Mann and in his own painting which is a caricature of David Garrick and which also includes Mann.