Back to Landscapes PreviousNext
Hubert Robert
(French, 1733 — 1808)
Terrace Ruins in a Park
Inventory Number: 5647
Oil on canvas.
34 x 24 inches (86.5 x 61 cm)
Robert received a classical education and proved to be an able classical scholar, proud of his knowledge of ancient history and literature reflecting the attention he gave to Latin inscriptions and archaeological details in his art. Robert produced a large number of park and garden scenes, such as this superb canvas. With a virtuoso mastery of his palette and of different painterly devices, the artist surely earned the title "Designer of the Royal Gardens" given him by Louis XVI for his work in the re-planning of the park at Versailles. For a long time this painting was known as The Terrace at Marly (where the sculptural group of The Horse Tamers by Guillaume Coustou indeed stood in the 18th century), but the architecture and nature of the landscape are not in keeping with the park at Marly. Thus the work would seem to be simply a characteristic example of a decorative landscape, created through a compilation of motifs sketched from nature.
Size can be commissioned smaller or larger.
Collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.