John Rollin Tilton
J.R. Tilton's grave at the Cimitero acattolico, Rome
Born	John Sargeant Rollin Tilton 8 June 1828 New London, New Hampshire
Died	28 March 1888 Rome, Italy
Resting place	Cimitero Acattolico, Rome
Nationality	American-Italian
Education	Florence, Rome
Known for	Painter and illustrator
Movement	Orientalist
Spouse	Caroline Town Stebbins (writer)

John Rollin Tilton (New London, New Hampshire, USA, 8 June 1828 - 28 March 1888)^[1] was an Italian-American painter, mainly of vedute of picturesque urban scenes.

Biography

The Grand Canal, Venice, illustration in the book, American Art and American Art Collections: Essays on Artistic Subjects, 1889

He was initially self-taught, but then trained in Florence, and later in Rome, where he lived for many years initially making a living painting vedute and reproductions of masters. He painted a Rome from the Aventine, the Lagoon of Venice, The Egitto, and the Lago di Averno. The American statesman Hamilton Fish bought his Vallata Chamounix, and the American businessman W. B. Astor, his Lago di Thun; Louise, lady Ashburton, Dendur in Egypt and Paestum; the Boston mayor Martin Brimmer, his Lago di Como and Venice, and Count Palfy, his Vedute of Orvieto. De Gubernatis noted that "those who found Neapolitan vedute painters, warm and scintillating, would find Tilton cold and calm." He painted many watercolors.^[2]

Rollin Tilton and his wife, the writer and translator Caroline Town Stebbins,^[3] gathered a following among émigrés and visitors from the English speaking world.^[4] Among them were John Ruskin and Henry James.^[5]

References