Cavallo, Tiberius (McKechnie Section 2)

See Section One for main entry

Evidence has recently come to light that Cavallo, a physicist who was interested in the technique of producing silhouettes, did in fact paint at least one example. This is a large group (30 x 8 in.) of the Impey family, acquired by Mr W. E. Fox-Smith. It is inscribed on the back as having been painted by Cavallo in 1798. Painted in Indian ink on paper, the piece shows eleven members of the family, as well as a dog, placed in an indoor setting which shows furniture, including a piano. The names of the members of the family are inscribed on a separate piece of paper on the back of the frame, together with the information that the family were living in Sussex at the time. I am told that the painting of the full-length figures is crude. The discovery of this silhouette suggests that the contrivance for producing profiles invented by Cavallo (illustrated in Section One) may have been used for delineating full-length as well as bust length silhouettes. 520