Middleton Alexander Jameson (1851–1919)

The subject may be southern European but this small gem of a painting by Scottish artist Middleton Alexander Jameson (1851–1919) bears the influence of his time spent in the northern French artist colonies at Grez-sur-Loing and Etaples, and later St Ives in Cornwall. Middleton—affectionately called 'Midge' by his family—lodged and rubbed along with fellow Scot Arthur Melville, Irish artist Frank O’Meara and French Eugene Laurent Vail, working in a plein-air impressionistic style and choosing to paint naturalistic, humble subjects, such as Breton fisherfolk and peasants.

Here, the ruins of the Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli are enshrouded by a profusion of wildflowers. The simple but vivid palette, with searing blue sky and riotous pink blossoms, focuses the scene as much on the colours of nature as on the classical architecture beyond.

Jameson's younger brother was Sir Leander Starr Jameson, the British South African statesman who led the disastrous Jameson Raid into the Transvaal in 1895/6. Leander was later to serve as the tenth Prime Minister of the Cape. A portrait of Leander by Middleton is in the NPG collection. Middleton Jameson also travelled to Africa and painted some outstanding African subjects.