Charles-Joseph Natoire

Senator Russel, Amsterdam, by 1969;
Emile Wolf, New York,
thence by descent 

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum; Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum; Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, French Drawings from a Private Collection Louis XIII - Louis XVI, 1980, pp. 106-107, no. 34, reproduced in full, p. 2, fig. 12 and detail, p. 107
Tampa Museum, Louis XIII - Louis XVI:  French Drawings from a Private Collection, 1982, 

S. Caviglia-Brunel, Charles-Joseph Natoire 1700-1777, Paris 2012, p. 465, no. D. 729, reproduced 

Laid down on paper which has in turn been hinge mounted to a modern mount. There are some small scattered brown stains to the sheet, particularly to the right half and lower section. There is an old crease to the upper centre, where it is also possible that there is an old repair. Otherwise in predominantly good condition, with the medium fresh and vibrant throughout and the paper retaining its original blue colour. Sold in a giltwood frame.
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The exact location of this view has not been identified, but the classical buildings in the distance and its similarities with other drawings that have been inscribed by the artist with locations suggest that the present scene is somewhere in the Roman Campagna.  An idyllic and picturesque scene, Natoire's landscape is dominated by the animals and figures in the foreground.  The grouping on the far right of the composition acts as both a repoussoir and silhouette ensemble, cleverly leading the viewer in before we focus on the terrain beyond.

Natoire was appointed Director of the French Academy in Rome in 1750 and from then until his death in 1777, but particularly in the late 1750s and early 1760s, made a number of drawings of scenes both in Rome and in the Campagna.¹

^1. See S. Caviglia-Brunel, op. cit., pp. 438-467