William Wilkins

William Wilkins, born in Norwich, Norfolk, was an English writer and architect. He was a leading proponent of the Greek Revival in early nineteenth century Britain, and was best known for designing the National Gallery and University College in London. Wilkins was also an antiquary and collector, mainly of Dutch and Italian paintings.    Educated at Norwich School, he entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from which he graduated in 1800. He won a scholarship in 1801 that allowed him to travel to Italy, Greece and Anatolia.    He married in 1811 and inherited his father’s (William Wilkins 1751-1815) six theatres in 1815, which he managed until his death.    As an architect, Wilkins designed many buildings, monuments, country houses and churches all across the United Kingdom and Ireland (Dublin). In 1821, he was invited to design the New Court at Trinity College, Cambridge, which was completed in 1827. Five years later, Wilkins won the competition for the National Gallery and Royal Academy in Trafalgar Square, London.    Wilkins died from terminal kidney disease at Lensfield House in Cambridge on 31 August 1839.    Once in the famous collection of the Duke of Orléans, the painting The Lost Son by Jan B. Weenix was part of the Thomas Moore Slade Collection in 1792/93 before entering William Wilkin’s private collection. Christie’s London held three sales of his collection: in May 1830, April 1838 and May 1940. The Lost Son was sold on 22 May 1830 under the title The Prodigal Son, or La Gaieté bacchique (lot no.2). Eventually, the painting found its way into the Adolphe Schloss Collection. Another work by Weenix is now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam under the title Scene from the Wedding of Messalina and Gaius Sillius, attributed to Nicolaes Knüpfer. 

Literature and Links:   https://www.cambridgeppf.org/FAQs/william-wilkins https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000091610 https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-29422 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilkins_%28architect%29 https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/architecture-biographies/william-wilkins http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/architecture/wilkins/index.html https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/search/objects?q=SK-A-4779&p=1&ps=12&st=Objects&ii=0#/SK-A-4779,0 Liscombe, R. W. William Wilkins, 1778-1839. Cambridge University Press, 2010. Christie, Mr. 1730-1803. A Catalogue of a Very Choice Assemblage of Fourteen Highly Finished Flemish and Dutch Pictures: … from the Cabinet of an Amateur: Some of Which Were Formerly in the Collection of the Palazzo Pitti, the Orleans Gallery, or in the Cabinets of the Comtesse De Verrue, Le Brun, and Others:… Which Will Be Sold by Auction, by Mr. Christie, at His Great Room, King Street, St. James’s Square, on… May… 22nd, 1830… 1830.