I have an update for a story I published a while back. It was a self-indulgent story, and it’s a self-indulgent update. Apologies very much in advance.
Back in October I wrote a piece about a painting I really love – Capriccio: St Paul’s and a Venetian Canal, by William Marlow. It’s an obscure painting – it’s held in the Tate’s collection but it’s rarely on display – and Marlow is an obscure painter. I have googled gently over the twenty years since I saw the painting and have seen a few of his pieces, most of them sort of fine but not particularly memorable.
Anyway. A few weeks back I was watching the Netflix Christmas movie, A Castle for Christmas. It’s set in a Scottish castle and I don’t need to bother you with the plot. The important thing is that as Cary Elwes and Brooke Shields walked through the castle in one scene, I thought I saw a very familiar shape high up on the wall – a painting in amongst paintings. This one looked a lot like Capriccio, but the colours were darker and the outline felt slightly different. I was intrigued! (I am boring.)
So I found out where the film was shot, and it’s a place in Scotland called Dalmeny House. On the house’s website I found the staircase where I saw the familiar looking picture, but I still couldn’t get a proper look at it.
Inevitably, I emailed the house, and asked if they had any info about this picture for me.
They did.
I got an absolutely lovely email back from a trainee administrator at Dalmeny. They had the names of the painting and the date it had been purchased. They also told me it was part of a set, purchased along with the painting you can see hanging nearby.