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Hubert ROBERT (1733–1808). Architectural fantasy featuring t…
See original version (French)
63
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Hubert ROBERT (1733–1808). Architectural fantasy featuring t…
See original version (French)
Estimate €20,000 - €30,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Hubert ROBERT (1733–1808). Architectural fantasy featuring the Temple of Vesta
Watercolour, pen and brown ink
H. 89.6 cm – W. 63 cm
Inscribed ‘H. Robert’ in the lower left-hand corner
Sun-faded, restored
In 1754, the young artist Hubert Robert accompanied Étienne-François de Stainville – the future Duke of Choiseul and France’s new ambassador to the Holy See – to Rome. Although he had not won the Prix de Rome, Robert was permitted to attend the Académie de France. He remained in Italy for nearly eleven years. Together with Fragonard, he explored the countless ancient ruins, and Rome became for them a vast open-air studio. He also studied under Giovanni Paolo Panini, whose taste for watercolour and animated ruins can be seen in our watercolour.
Our large watercolour can be compared, with many variations, to Hubert Robert’s painting *The Temple of Venus Transformed into a Dovecote*, now in the Louvre (inv. 7639). It features the Temple of Vesta repurposed as a dovecote, as well as female admirers of antiquity in the foreground contemplating an erotic bas-relief. Hubert Robert drew inspiration once again from the Temple of Vesta converted into a dovecote in a watercolour held at the Albertina (inv. 12437).
Expert: Bayser’s Office
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
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