Monks at the Vatican, Rome, March 29th 1842

Solomon Alexander Hart RA (April 1806 - 1881)

RA Collection: Art

A pencil and watercolour sketch of six monks in groups of two wearing cream and brown habits. As Hart suggests in his inscription, these are possibly members of the Reformed Carmelite Order who wore a brown habit with a white cloak. This branch of the Carmelites, reformed by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, were also known as Teresians or Discalced Carmelites which explains Hart's second inscription on the sheet.

As Hart indicates, this sketch was made at the Vatican in Rome in March 1842. Hart spent about a year in Italy, on the advice of the Duke of Sussex whose portrait he was commissioned to paint. He visited Rome, Venice, Florence, and Perugia, drawing architecture and paintings.