JOHN HAMILTON MORTIMER, A.R.A. (EASTBOURNE 1741-1779 LONDON)

In the early 1770s, Mortimer moved away from the history painting which had until then been his chief occupation towards more disturbing subject matter. Influenced by the 17th Century Neapolitan artist Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), he turned to scenes of witchcraft, monsters, and particularly banditti scenes, which would become his speciality. His tight, delicate draughtsmanship, with its richly hatched shading, was ideally suited to reproduction in etching, and was clearly influenced by Rosa and by Guercino (1591-1666).