Hubert Robert

Royer S.A., Paris (from labels on the reverse)

Figures with Urn: surface in good condition. noticeable repaint between columns. a few spots of discoloration to the left of the pyramid. under UV: repaint in two aforementioned areas, on top on either side of the broken column and in the hills far right. Woman at fountain: surface in good condition aside from cracks and lifting at maidens' waists and across to the temple; lifting also below this level in area of temple ruins. under UV: no apparent inpaint.
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This charming pair of paintings perfectly illustrates Robert's fascination with classical antiquity.  Educated in the Jesuit tradition at the prestigious Collège de Navarre, Hubert Robert was an able Latinist whose knowledge of history and literature can often be detected in his art.  The archaeological elements and ancient inscriptions evident in many of his paintings reveal the close attention Robert paid to even the smallest details; and yet, this accuracy is subordinated to the overall appearance and harmony of his compositions.  In 1754, Robert traveled to Italy in the entourage of the Comte de Stainville, who later became the Duc de Choiseul, the newly appointed French ambassador to Rome.  Robert spent eleven years in Rome, where he studied at the French Academy and met many other prominent artists, including Gian Paolo Panini (1691-1765) and Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806).  The older Panini was an instructor of perspective at the Academy, and he had a great influence on Robert's early artistic development.

In the present pair of paintings, contemporary figures move amongst picturesque remains:  in one, women collect water at a crumbling but still functioning fountain, while in its pendant, a group of young men sit on the tumbled remains of a Roman temple contemplating an ancient urn, which seems to be based on examples such as the Borghese and Medici vases that Robert would have known.  Likewise, the temple in the left background strongly resembles the Pantheon, and the pyramid may have been inspired by the Roman tomb of Caius Cestius.  The pyramid is also a more general indication of the "Egyptomania" that had taken hold in Europe during the second half of the 18^th century.  Indeed, many of Robert's images from the late 1750s are enlivened by Egyptian motifs such as pyramids, sphinxes and obelisks.  Taken as a pair, the dual activities of the figures amongst the ruins – the women active, the men contemplative – suggest the dual function the ruins played for Robert.  On the one hand, they were still active elements of the Roman cityscape, places where natives and tourists gathered and performed quotidian activities; while on the other, they were meditative, almost spiritual locations, where one could commune with the greatness of the past.