Italian Landscape with a Tomb 1783

Sir George Howland Beaumont made this drawing, *Italian Landscape with a Tomb*, using graphite and gray wash. Beaumont was part of the British elite, for whom the Grand Tour of Europe, and especially Italy, was a rite of passage. Here, the artist constructs an image of Italy as the land of ruins and tombs, the land of the dead. This aesthetic, with its melancholic, elegiac feeling, was very much in vogue. What is so interesting to me is how this fashion participates in the colonial project, where the land and histories of other places are mined and consumed for the edification and pleasure of the colonizer. This tomb becomes a kind of picturesque souvenir for Beaumont and his peers. The cool tones and careful composition evoke a quiet sense of contemplation. This drawing represents more than just a scene; it embodies a whole set of social and historical relationships. It encapsulates the complex intersection of travel, class, and cultural appropriation.