The Artist in His Room at the Villa Medici, Rome (1817): Art, History and Details

The Artist in His Room at the Villa Medici, Rome (1817) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Léon Cogniet (French, 1794–1880).

The work and its context

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

Léon Cogniet was one of many artists who traveled from across Europe to Rome during the early 19th century, drawing upon the city’s ancient past and its surrounding landscape for inspiration. In this formally composed scene, the artist stands within his studio, its walls bare and colorless in contrast to the dramatic light cast through his open window.

Object facts

• Title: The Artist in His Room at the Villa Medici, Rome
• Date: 1817
• Creator attribution: Léon Cogniet (French, 1794–1880)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 58 x 51 x 7.5 cm (22 13/16 x 20 1/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 44.5 x 37 cm (17 1/2 x 14 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1978.51

A detail from the museum

In 1817, Léon Cogniet won the Prix de Rome for history painting, allowing him to live and work in the city for five years. The helmet, shield, and swords seen at left refer to the expectation that Cogniet would produce a history painting each year to send back to Paris for review.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (January 1979): 3–47.
• Talbot, William S. "Cogniet and Vernet at the Villa Medici." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 5 (1980): 135-49.
• Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.

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.