Pair of Paintings: The Colonnade of Saint Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave and The Grotto of Posillipo (c.1769): Art, History and Details

Pair of Paintings: The Colonnade of Saint Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave and The Grotto of Posillipo (c.1769) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Hubert Robert studied and worked in Italy in 1754–65. Upon returning to Paris, he entered the Royal Academy as an architectural painter and full member in 1766. His time in Italy would prove to be influential and classical architectural subjects would dominate his subsequent work. Interior of the Colonnade of St. Peter's is based on a drawing dated from 1758, the same year that Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico was elected. Given his interest in classical subjects, Robert has antiquated his subject by aging the condition of the columns and including a soldier dressed in ancient Roman armor. Similarly, Robert imaginatively portrays the Grotto of Posillipo. Measuring over 2000 feet in length, this tunnel was carved from volcanic rock by ancient Romans to connect Naples with Pozzuoli. While this passageway was improved by repaving and reinforcing the arches during the reign of Charles III of Naples (1734–59), this structure was never the grand tunnel Robert depicts—with coffered vaults and engaged columns.

Object facts

• Title: Pair of Paintings: The Colonnade of Saint Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave and The Grotto of Posillipo
• Date: c.1769
• Creator attribution: Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808)
• Culture: France
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 56 x 47.5 x 6 cm (22 1/16 x 18 11/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 42.6 x 33.4 cm (16 3/4 x 13 1/8 in.)
• Collection: P - French 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1976.97

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.