In Frascati, where the great Roman families had holidayed during the heat of the summers since antiquity, Sargent, Wilfrid and Jane were eager to seek out the marvellous views to be had from the ancient villas. In a letter home to her mother from the Grand Hotel, Frascati, Jane wrote, “We got here Sat. night. Found endless things to paint in the gardens of the Villa Torlonia. Alas, there is the difficulty of getting permission, and we are champing at the delay. Sargent and Wil are dying to get at it. We went to Tivoli after lunch, found Leslie and Mary Foote. They were thrilled by seeing Sargent and lunching with him and having him make a watercolour under their noses.” In the grounds of Villa Falconieri both Sargent and Wilfrid painted the antique statue of Vertumnus, a Roman fertility god. Sargent’s version is now held at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.

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