Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Views of Ruins

Andrea Pozzo and workshop
Scene of Martyrdom among Ruins
ca. 1708
oil on canvas
Palazzo Pretorio, Trento

Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain
Ruins of Amphitheater
before 1759
drawing, with added watercolor
Musée du Louvre

Gian Paolo Panini
Figures among Ruins of the Colosseum
before 1765
drawing, with added watercolor
Musée du Louvre

Henry Ferguson
Capriccio of Classical Ruins
ca. 1690
oil on canvas
National Trust, Ham House, London

Henry Ferguson
Figures before a Ruined Altar
ca. 1690
oil on canvas
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh

Hendrik van Cleve
Rome - Ruins
ca. 1545-50
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Rudolf von Alt
Castle Ruins of Emmerberg near Vienna
1905
drawing, with added watercolor
private collection

attributed to Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau
Figures among Ruins
ca. 1760
drawing, with added watercolor
Musée du Louvre

Jean-Pierre Hoüel
Ruins of the Temple of Jupiter at Agrigento
ca. 1776
gouache on paper
Musée du Louvre

Jean-Pierre Hoüel
Ruins of Triumphal Monument between Agosta and Syracuse
ca. 1776
gouache on paper
Musée du Louvre

Jacques-Louis David
Roman Ruins among Trees
ca. 1775-80
drawing, with added watercolor
Musée du Louvre

Giovanni Ghisolfi
Roman Ruins with Figures
ca. 1650-80
oil on canvas
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica

Gian Paolo Panini
Capriccio of Roman Ruins with Apostle Preaching
before 1765
drawing, with watercolor
Musée du Louvre

Hubert Robert
Staircase ascending through Ruinous Vault
ca. 1755-65
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Jenaro Pérez Villaamil
Landscape with Classical Ruins
ca. 1830
oil on canvas
Museo del Prado, Madrid
 
attributed to Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena
Architectural Capriccio
ca. 1710
oil on canvas
Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio

"But among all the objects of art, the picturesque eye is perhaps most inquisitive after the elegant relics of ancient architecture; the ruined towers, the Gothic arch, the remains of castles, and abbeys.  These are the richest legacies of art.  They are consecrated by time; and almost deserve the veneration we pay to the works of nature itself." 

– William Gilpin, from On Picturesque Travel (1792)