The Falls of Terni

Patch was banished from the Papal States in 1755 so this picture was perhaps painted with reference to an earlier work. The Falls are depicted from the front, with a tall tree closing the composition on the left. A gentleman can be seen talking to a hermit in the foreground while small groups of people admire the water. The handling and colour of the painting are strongly reminiscent of the work of Claude-Joseph Vernet, in whose studio Patch worked between 1750 and 1753. The fact that Patch, by now a 'bridge painter' and caricaturist in Florence, should return to an old subject and paint it with unexpectedly romantic feeling suggests that he had been reading Burke.