Society of Dilettanti

The Society of Dilettanti (founded 1734) is a British society of noblemen and scholars that sponsored the study of ancient Greek and Roman art, and the creation of new work in the style.

History
Though the exact date is unknown, the Society is believed to have been established as a gentlemen's club in 1734 by a group of people who had been on the Grand Tour. Records of the earliest meeting of the society were written somewhat informally on loose pieces of paper. The first entry in the first minute book of the society is dated 5 April 1736.

In 1743, Horace Walpole condemned its affectations and described it as "... a club, for which the nominal qualification is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk: the two chiefs are Lord Middlesex and Sir Francis Dashwood, who were seldom sober the whole time they were in Italy."

The group, initially led by Francis Dashwood, contained several dukes and was later joined by Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, Uvedale Price, and Richard Payne Knight, among others. It was closely associated with Brooks's, one of London's most exclusive gentlemen's clubs. The society quickly became wealthy, through a system in which members made contributions to various funds to support building schemes and archaeological expeditions.

The first artist associated with the group was George Knapton.

The Society of Dilettanti aimed to correct and purify the public taste of the country; from the 1740s, it began to support Italian opera. A few years before Joshua Reynolds became a member, the group worked towards the objective of forming a public academy, and from the 1750s, it was the prime mover in establishing the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1775, the club had accumulated enough money towards a scholarship fund for the purpose of supporting a student's travel to Rome and Greece, or for archaeological expeditions such as that of Richard Chandler, William Pars, and Nicholas Revett, the results of which they published in Ionian Antiquities, a major influence on neoclassicism in Britain.

Among the publications published at the expense of the society was The bronzes of Siris (London, 1836) by Danish archaeologist Peter Oluf Bronsted.

Membership
The society has 60 members, elected by secret ballot. An induction ceremony is held at Brooks's, an exclusive London gentleman's club. It makes annual donations to the British Schools in Rome and Athens, and a separate fund set up in 1984 provides financial assistance for visits to classical sites and museums.

Notable members

 * Thomas Anson (founder member)
 * Right Honourable Sir Joseph Banks
 * George Beaumont
 * Rev. Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode
 * Anthony Morris Storer, Esq.
 * Charles Crowle, Esq.
 * Henry Dawkins of Standlynch Hall, Wiltshire
 * Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer (founder member)
 * Lord Dundas
 * Sir Henry Englefield
 * Stephen Payne-Gallwey, Esq.
 * David Garrick
 * Major General Claude Martin
 * Sir James Gray, 2nd Baronet (founder member)
 * Sir George Gray, 3rd Baronet (founder member)
 * The Honourable Charles Francis Greville
 * Sir William Hamilton (diplomat)
 * Thomas Hope
 * Philip Metcalfe (from 1786)
 * Richard Payne Knight (from 1781)
 * Duke of Leeds
 * Constantin John Lord Murlgrave
 * Uvedale Price
 * Sir Joshua Reynolds (from 1766)
 * Lord Seaforth
 * John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer
 * Spencer Stanhope, Esq.
 * Sir John Taylor, 1st Baronet
 * Richard Thompson, Esq.
 * Sir Anthony R. Wagner, Garter Principal King of Arms
 * William Wilkins
 * Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet
 * Charles Williams-Wynn (the elder)
 * Sir Charles Williams-Wynn (the younger)
 * Charles Towneley, antiquary and collector

References and sources

 * References


 * Sources
 * The Penguin Dictionary of British and Irish History, editor: Juliet Gardiner
 * This article incorporates text from:The Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Volume 2, James Northcote, 1819
 * Members of the Society of Dilettanti, 1736–1874, edited by Sir William Frazer. Chiswick Press.
 * Members of the Society of Dilettanti, 1736–1874, edited by Sir William Frazer. Chiswick Press.