Attributed to Pierre-Athanase Chauvin

The canvas has been laid down on panel. painting is clean and can be hung in its present state. the paint surface has been slightly pressed, but is generally well retained with only some slight thinness to some of the browns of the landscape. examination under ultraviolet light reveals some small dots of retouching at the base of the waterfall to address some thinness in this area and some in the foliage at top of the cliff at upper center. other retouches and reinforcements to the darks at left side, some retouching at upper right corner, along edges and in sky. In an elaborately carved and gilt wood frame.
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This imposing view of Tivoli was probably painted by Chauvin between 1815 and 1820. The style comes very close to that of  Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes, under whom Chauvin studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was trained in the neoclassical style. Chauvin, along with other pupils of Valenciennes such as  Louise-Josephine Sarazin de Belmont, painted large scale compositions, such as the present example, from some studies of Valenciennes. He was nineteen years old when he first took part in the Salon exhibition in 1793.  Although he was born in Paris and trained by a French master, Chauvin moved to Rome in 1801 or 1802 where he was to spend most of his life.

This painting reflects Chauvin's controlled use of light and his powerful sense of atmosphere, which he learned from Valenciennes. Chauvin gives us the impression that he has been painting in the open air rather than in a studio. The waterfall in the composition act as a structural element, heightening the recession through space.

We are grateful to Luigi Gallo for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot. Prof. Gallo believes that this work comes very close to the hand of Chauvin.