Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810), The temple of Vesta in Tivoli, 1809, Etching

Beschreibung: Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736 Lyon - 1810 Lyon), The temple of Vesta in Tivoli, 1809, Etching

Technique: Etching on laid paper
Size: 33,9 x 43,8 cm, Plate: 31,6 x 41,5 cm | 13 1/3 x 17 1/4 in, Plate: 12 1/2 x 16 1/3 in
Inscription: Below the image in the plate inscribed and dated: "Temple de la Sibylle Tiburtine à Tivoli. desiné et gravé à l'eau forte par J.J. De Boissieu 1809. à l'age de 73 ans.", on the lower margin inscribed by an unknown hand and numbered

Condition: Slightly rubbed and slightly browned, but good overall. Margins slightly browned, stain at upper right margin, smoothed crease at lower right, reverse side rubbed and soiled.

Description: The round Vesta Temple of Tivoli was already considered the epitome of ancient harmony and architecture by the classicist travellers to Rome. By the middle of the 18th century at the latest, it was therefore one of the most famous ancient temples in the scholarly world. Not least because of its spectacular location, on a rock spur above a waterfall plunging 120m into the depths, the temple became an important pilgrimage site for architects, artists and poets alike over the decades. How aptly Boissieu, who travelled to Italy in the 1760s, sketched the scenery around the famous round temple here. Swarming with people measuring the columns with their hands or eyes and gazing in wonder at the completed capitals, the temple becomes the centre of attention of the entire composition. Even at a further distance from the building, artists can be recognized who have pulled out their drawing boards and begin to observe and sketch from different angles. No sooner does it become apparent that Boissieu has transformed the actual topography of the site, with its rugged, steeply sloping rock face, into a tranquil river landscape whose waterfall plunges over a comparatively tame rocky edge. Together with the soft, warmly glowing line of the etching, this idyllic image of the artists around the famous ruin combines to form a lifelike ideal landscape in the Campagna Romana. |BO

Keywords: Classicism, Landscape, Temple, Tivoli, Waterfall, Cascade, Ruin, Graphic, Etching, Italy, Landscape

Zustand: Slightly rubbed and slightly browned, but good overall. Margins slightly browned, stain at upper right margin, smoothed crease at lower right, reverse side rubbed and soiled. Hinweise: Classicism, Landscape, Temple, Tivoli, Waterfall, Cascade, Ruin, Graphic, Etching, Italy, Landscape Abmessungen: 33,9 x 43,8 cm, Plate: 31,6 x 41,5 cm | 13 1/3 x 17 1/4 in, Plate: 12 1/2 x 16 1/3 in Name des Künstlers: Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810) Medium: Etching on laid paper