Hubert Robert was born in Paris in 1733. The son of Nicolas Robert, servant to the Marquis de Stainville, he received an excellent education. He travelled to Rome in 1754 with the Marquis’s son and enrolled at the Academy of France. Most artists at the Academy were accepted after they had won the Prix de Rome scholarship. But, Robert’s connections with Stainville and the Marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour, ensured his place at the Academy.
Whilst studying in Rome Robert befriended the architect, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-778), and often sketched ruins with him. He also travelled to Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii and the abandoned Ville d’Este in Tivoli. When Robert returned to Paris in 1765 he started to create canvases filled with classical ruins, bringing together architectural elements from his Italian sketches and his imagination to create fanciful compositions.
- TitleArchitectural Caprice with Bridge and Triumphal Arch
- Object numberB.M.264
- Collection
- Creator
- Production placeFrance
- School/styleFrench
- Object name
- Material
- Technique
- Dimensions
- Length: 139.1 cm
- Width: 106 cm
- Length: Frame 123 cm
- Width: Frame 155 cm
- Depth: Frame 3.5 cm