Thomas Patch (Exeter 1725-1782 Florence)

Patch travelled to Rome in 1747 in the company of Richard Dalton, later librarian to King George III. There he quickly settled into the established colony of British artists and connoisseurs and soon 'attracted the attention of Claude-Joseph Vernet, who was always disposed to look for talent amongst his wife's countrymen' (F.J.B. Watson, 'Thomas Patch: Notes on his life, together with a catalogue of his known works', Walpole Society, XXXVIII, 1939-40, p.16). Patch worked in Vernet's studio from 1750 until 1753, writing home that he believed Vernet to be a superior artist to Claude - an opinion which was said to have greatly shocked Joseph Farington some sixty years later.