The Capitol viewed across the Tiber, Rome

Details

David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)
The Capitol viewed across the Tiber, Rome
signed and dated 'David Roberts, 1854.' (lower right) and inscribed and dated again 'The Capitol from/the Tiber/Rome Jany 2nd 1855.' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with white
9 5/8 x 12 7/8 in. (24.4 x 32.7 cm.)

Provenance

with The Maas Gallery, London.
Anon. sale; Christie's, London, 30 March 1993, lot 79.

Exhibited

London, J.S. Maas & Co., Victorian Exhibition, 1968, no. 94.
New York, The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, catalogue untraced.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium

Sale room notice

The date lower left may be read as 1853 and not 1855, he may have written 1853 by mistake instead of 1854 as the year had only just changed. The re-dating lower right is found with signatures on a lot of drawings; the inscription with details of place and day on the left is usual for his on-the-spot sketches.

We are grateful to Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for this information.

Lot Essay

Roberts made two visits to Italy, travelling to Venice in 1851 and to Rome and Naples in the winter of 1853/1854.

There are two known oil paintings of this subject, Private Collection, United Kingdom and the Beaverbrook Collection, Hamilton, Canada.

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