The Temple of the Sybil at Tivoli

Black chalk, pen and brown ink, watercolour.

317 x 444mm. (121/2 x 171/2 inches)

Provenance: Possibly P. J. Mariette who owned the pendant, lot 514 of the Cartier sale; A. D. Bérard (L. 75); Henry Lacroix; Louis Cartier.

Literature: C. Gabillot, Hubert Robert et sons temps, Paris 1895, p. 125. illustrated as A View Taken in the Pamphili Gardens: Roman Ruins.

HUBERT ROBERT
Paris 1733 ~ 1808 Paris

Hubert Robert was in Rome from 1754 until 1765 when he returned to Paris. Among Robert's friends in Rome were both the Abbé de Saint-Non and Fragonard and the three of them drew together in the gardens of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli. However, another artist in Rome who had an influence on his work was the view painter, Giovanni Paolo Panini, who had an influence on his work at the Académie de France. It has even been suggested that Robert collaborated with Panini on the latter's Views of Ancient and Modern Rome. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, painted for Choiseul. At the same time Giovanni Battista Piranesi began publishing his engravings of Roman views including a capriccio of the Temple of the Sybil at Tivoli. His work also made a powerful impression on the young Robert.¹

Our drawing is one of several capriccios, by Hubert Robert, where he uses the circular Temple of the Sybil at Tivoli as the main subject. Our sheet is probably of the same date, 1762, as another drawing, known as View of the Villa Pamphili: Roman Ruins once from the same collection, and also referred to in Gabillot's book.² These two drawings were among a quantity he took back with him to Paris in July 1765. He treasured all his drawings of both Italian buildings and landscapes and used them at the source for his paintings exhibited at the French Salons between 1767 and 1798. The Temple of the Sybil is shown here with a cross and bell-tower. In fact the temple was turned into a church in the Middle Ages and continued as such probably until the early 18th century. However, at some time before 1726 part of the portal had collapsed and and it reverted to being a Roman ruin.³ Therefore, the bell and tower and Capuchin friar, on the steps, serve to increase the ingenuity of his capriccio.

1. Jean de Cryeux, The Dictionary of Art, edit. Jane Turner, Vol26, p.448.

2. C, Gabillot, Hubert Robert et sons temps, Paris, 1895, p. 129.

3. C. Crocchiante, L istoria delle chiese della città di Tivoli, 1726, pp. 249-251.