Object Details
From:NHerts
Name/TitleTorre del Diavolo, Siena
About this objectThis small watercolour was painted during one of the artist’s trips around Europe and the Middle East with her travelling and life companion Margaret Thomas in 1896.
Henrietta Pilkington (1845-1927) and Margaret Thomas (1842-1929) met in London in the 1870s. The two women became very close, travelling together throughout the 1890s before settling down in a house in Norton in 1911 where they lived until their deaths.
Their bond is memorialised on their shared headstone, where they are buried together. Beneath Henrietta Pilkington’s name it reads ‘The sweetest soul that ever looked with human eyes. Friends for sixty years.’
The Torre dei Diavoli (Tower of the Devil) is part of the Palazzo Turchi outside the city walls of Siena, Italy. The tower and red building pictured here are from the original construction of the Palace in the 14th century for the Turchi family, though its most interesting history lies two centuries later. The diabolical name of the tower allegedly derives from the Sienese victory over the Papal forces of Clement VII in 1526, obtained thanks to the intervention of devilish forces.
In 1554, Florence led a final charge in the defeat of Siena at the Battle of Marciano. Cosimo I de’ Medici, with the support of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, captured the Palazzo Turchi and stationed a Florentine command base within the palace.
These historical anecdotes cemented the Torre dei Diavoli as a point of interest on the European tour of Henrietta Pilkington and Margaret Thomas.
On the reverse of this painting, Henrietta Pilkington has sketched at least two other scenes in pencil that have not been completed. They appear to depict an alleyway or internal corridor in perspective. The more prominent sketch is upside-down in relation to the artist's signature, but a fainter sketch can be seen the other way up.
MakerHenrietta M Pilkington
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1875 - 1900
Period19th Century (1801-1900)
Medium and MaterialsWatercolour on paper
Pencil on paper
Place MadeSiena, Italy
Inscription and MarksInscription on the bottom left of the front reads: Torre del Diavolo Siena. At least two more pencil sketches remain unfinished on the reverse alongside the signature H. M. Pilkington.
Measurements280 mm x 190 mm
Named CollectionLetchworth Museum
Credit LineThe estate of Margaret Thomas
Object TypePainting
Object number1930.5477.33
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved