JODOCUS SEBASTIAEN VAN DEN ABEELE | Rome, a view of the Campidoglio

Private collection, Spain;

Anonymous sale, Madrid, Goya Subastas, 26-27 June 2017, lot 600.

This view of the Campidoglio was painted by Abeele at the end of his life, in 1852. It is a reminiscence of his stay in Rome between 1824 and 1830, when he was a guest of the Bonaparte family at Villa Paolina, during his tenure as drawing teacher to Luigi Napoleone Bonaparte. 

As with many other painters travelling to Italy, Abeele was interested in antiquities, but also in representing the contemporary Roman way of life. This view is taken from the portico of Palazzo dei Conservatori, in front of the stand of a peddler whose merchandise lies on the ground. The Aracoeli church and a peak of Palazzo Nuovo are visible, as well as ancient Roman statues such as the two Dioscuri on horseback, a statue of the roman goddess Minerva, and a stone carved eagle lying on the ground.