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Lot Essay
These two paintings depict the Porta Asinaria, a city gate in Rome situated between the Basilicas of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem and San Giovanni in Laterano, with the Lateran walls and the Alban Hills in the background. Both paintings depict the same location from slightly different viewpoints and at different times of day. The first view, painted in the morning, shows the area illuminated by sunlight from the southeast. This light allows the artist to render the characteristic haze of the Roman Campagna, with the distant mountains appearing in blue tones. At the center of the composition, a group of small buildings is visible, likely corresponding to the customs and military offices. The second view, painted in the afternoon, is lit from the southwest, enabling the artist to emphasize architectural details and to define the structure of the ancient buildings with greater precision.
These two paintings can be considered studies executed en plein air, subsequently refined in the studio, likely intended to be kept there as an aide-mémoire for future works rather than as finished paintings for sale or exhibition at the Salons. Several architectural details, such as a small building visible at the lower right-center of the first painting and at the lower center of the second, together with the presence of multiple chimneys on the main white building in front of the city gate, help in dating the two works. Comparison with dated artworks by several European artists suggests that the pair can be assigned to the period between 1790 and 1804. In a work by Wilhelm Friedrich Gmelin dated 1790 (formerly Rome, Galleria Paolo Antonacci), an older stone building still stands near the white house, and the small building has not yet been introduced. The same configuration appears in an earlier drawing by John 'Warwick' Smith, who left Italy in 1781 (London, The British Museum, inv. 1936,0704.26).
By contrast, a drawing by Karl Friedrich Schinkel dated 1804 (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. SM SKB C.051) shows that the earlier stone addition had been removed by this date. It also indicates the introduction of a triangular chimney on the roof of the same white building, as well as the small building to its right. These features recur consistently in later works by other artists, including Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1815, Copenhagen, SMK, inv. KKSgb4243) and Joseph Rebell (1820, Vienna, Belvedere, inv. 5818), therefore confirming this date range.
A related painting, probably a copy of the morning view alone, was offered on the German art market in 2019 described as ‘German School, c. 1820-1840’. This latter painting, which lacks the quality of the present works in rendering the texture of the ancient buildings and capturing the effects of Roman light, may support the hypothesis that the original works were kept in a landscape painter’s studio, where they were accessible to pupils and colleagues for copying.
The two views of the Porta Asinaria constitute an outstanding example of Rome’s importance in the development of plein-air landscape painting over several centuries. Once in the city, numerous artists from across Europe set out in search of evocative motifs, recording them in paint and carefully observing every detail, including shifts in light and their effects on the Roman landscape.
These two paintings can be considered studies executed en plein air, subsequently refined in the studio, likely intended to be kept there as an aide-mémoire for future works rather than as finished paintings for sale or exhibition at the Salons. Several architectural details, such as a small building visible at the lower right-center of the first painting and at the lower center of the second, together with the presence of multiple chimneys on the main white building in front of the city gate, help in dating the two works. Comparison with dated artworks by several European artists suggests that the pair can be assigned to the period between 1790 and 1804. In a work by Wilhelm Friedrich Gmelin dated 1790 (formerly Rome, Galleria Paolo Antonacci), an older stone building still stands near the white house, and the small building has not yet been introduced. The same configuration appears in an earlier drawing by John 'Warwick' Smith, who left Italy in 1781 (London, The British Museum, inv. 1936,0704.26).
By contrast, a drawing by Karl Friedrich Schinkel dated 1804 (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. SM SKB C.051) shows that the earlier stone addition had been removed by this date. It also indicates the introduction of a triangular chimney on the roof of the same white building, as well as the small building to its right. These features recur consistently in later works by other artists, including Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1815, Copenhagen, SMK, inv. KKSgb4243) and Joseph Rebell (1820, Vienna, Belvedere, inv. 5818), therefore confirming this date range.
A related painting, probably a copy of the morning view alone, was offered on the German art market in 2019 described as ‘German School, c. 1820-1840’. This latter painting, which lacks the quality of the present works in rendering the texture of the ancient buildings and capturing the effects of Roman light, may support the hypothesis that the original works were kept in a landscape painter’s studio, where they were accessible to pupils and colleagues for copying.
The two views of the Porta Asinaria constitute an outstanding example of Rome’s importance in the development of plein-air landscape painting over several centuries. Once in the city, numerous artists from across Europe set out in search of evocative motifs, recording them in paint and carefully observing every detail, including shifts in light and their effects on the Roman landscape.