Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011107Roman Ruins, Villa Pamfili
About the Artwork
While living in Italy, Robert developed a fondness for classical architecture, making countless drawings that served as the basis for paintings and prints for decades after he returned to Paris. Denis Diderot (1713–1784), a French philosopher and art critic, nicknamed the artist “Robert of Ruins” due to Robert’s enduring interest in the subject. A quaint commentary on the passage of time, this drawing portrays the activities of contemporary life among the weathered remains of an ancient Roman building. Despite the traditional title of the drawing, there is no evidence that such ruins ever existed at the Villa Pamphili. The towering columns supporting a decorative frieze may instead derive from the Roman Forum’s Temple of Saturn.
Provenance
Private Coll., France Wildenstein & Co., NY H. G. Dalton, Cleveland H. D. Kendrick, Cleveland Private Coll., France; (Wildenstein & Co., NY); H. G. Dalton, Cleveland; H. D. Kendrick, Cleveland
Exhibition history
Italian and French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 1959-February 2, 1960). Ruins of Rome. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (December 15, 1960-February 15, 1961); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (March 26-May 7, 1961). Hubert Robert: 1733-1808. The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY (organizer) (October 9-November 11, 1962). Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). European Watercolors Through the 18th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 14-March 22, 1964). Drawings: France, Italy, Netherlands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 1-March 24, 1965). French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966). France in the 18th Century. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (January 5-March 3, 1968). Hubert Robert: Drawings and Watercolors. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (November 19, 1978-February 4, 1979). French Prints and Drawings in the Age of the Bourbons, 1589-1792. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 2-May 16, 1982). Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808)
- Date
- 1774
- Medium
- Pen and black ink and watercolor with black chalk underdrawing and heightened with white gouache on cream laid paper
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Harry D. Kendrick
- Accession no.
- 1951.485
More by Hubert Robert in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011107
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