Sterne’s Subscribers and the Society of Dilettanti

This article brings to light a previously overlooked part of Sterne’s social network by demonstrating that, in the 1760s, Sterne became involved with the Society of Dilettanti, an élite club of connoisseurs which at the time was becoming increasingly influential within the visual arts. The findings are based upon an analysis of Sterne’s subscribers, more than fifty of whom, it is shown, were Dilettanti members. Sterne’s connection to the Dilettanti, it is argued, became particularly close around the middle of the decade when his travels to Italy fostered friendships with particular members as well as interests shared by the society members more generally. Sterne was never a member of the Dilettanti, but the society, it is suggested, had a significant role in his social life in his last years, and it was a network he was able to make use of when gathering subscriptions.