Hubert ROBERT (Paris, 1733- Idem, 1808) - Lot 246

Hubert ROBERT (Paris, 1733- Idem, 1808) Roman waterfall with washerwomen and shepherds. Watercolor and brush in dark brown ink over a black stone sketch doubled in full on paper with a partially legible watermark. Monogram and date indistinctly legible on one of the stones to the left. Height Height : 40 cm. Width: 48.5 cm. Moulded and gilded wood frame with water-leaf décor, late 18th century Provenance: France, private collection: - France, private collection, annotations on verso 'Cataillo' and monogram resembling an interlaced V or 'C O' and an incomplete N°. We would like to thank Madame Sarah Catala, specialist in Hubert Robert's drawings, who kindly confirmed the attribution. This work will be included in his catalog raisonné. Note: This large, unpublished watercolor was the subject of a preparatory red chalk sketch from the Mathias Polakovits collection, bequeathed to L'ENSBA, Paris, in 1987 under inventory no. PM.2931 (201 x 244 mm), but with significant variations, such as the absence of the shepherds perched on the ruins and the shepherd with his dog in the foreground, both of which appear in the watercolor. Mount Catillo lies to the east of Tivoli, and the existence of an 18th-century Roman ruin resembling the remains of a structure designed to channel water is likely. While the existence of a sketch drawn on the spot could justify the probable existence of these ancient ruins, this watercolor must be dated between 1780 and 1786.