to the human; and every Vegetable that springs from the
Ground, whatever is of Art or Nature, may be introduced into this
Design of fitting up and furnishing Rooms, with all the Truth of
Drawing, Light, and Shadow, and great Perfection of Colouring.

This vast gallery of art and nature was to be printed in "Colours
softening into each other, with Harmony and Repose...."

Even if we feel that Jackson was building up his project to attract
attention, or that he was intoxicated by the idea of creating art on
such a grand scale, there is still something wrong in his conceiving it
in terms of wallpaper. What is certain is that Jackson was desperately
anxious to create color prints. In the absence of art patrons, wallpaper
was his only excuse for continuing as an artist. As a business venture
it was absurd, even tragic. There is good reason to believe that Jackson
lacked capital and rented the quarters for his business: his name does
not appear in the Poor Rate Book of that period in the Borough of
Battersea.

From a certain standpoint, this excursion by Jackson into wallpapers
featuring Roman ruins and classical antiquity appeared to come at an
appropriate time. Marco Ricci's paintings as well as the somewhat later
work of Pannini and Zuccarelli, and Guardi's early ruin pieces, were
already known. Ricci had visited England from 1710 to 1716. Zuccarelli
had come twice, once in 1742 and again in 1751 to stay until 1773,
becoming a foundation member of the Royal Academy; his classical
landscapes with their glib charm had a comparatively good reception. But
the strongest influence was undoubtedly that of Piranesi, whose powerful
etchings brought to life as never before the ravaged stones of Imperial
Rome and the _Campagna_. Their effect was widespread and electrifying,
although it was not until the 1760's that they developed their full
force as an influence on English architecture and furniture design, and
came to supersede the Palladian style brought to England by Inigo Jones
at the beginning of the 17th century.

Jackson was too early; public taste was not yet ready for picturesque
landscape or antique forms in wallpaper. But the style became dominant
in the latter 18th century, particularly in England and France, and was
also exported to America. While it is difficult to estimate the degree
of Jackson's influence in this development, we know that no scenic
papers can be dated before the Ricci prints, or before Jacks