Robert painted a number of views of colonnaded galleries; for example those in the Metropolitan Museum, with Gallery Cailleux in 1978 and in a private collection, Paris, V. Carlson, Hubert Robert, Drawings and Watercolors, Washington, 1978, no. 49, illustrated. The present drawing most closely compares with a drawing at Lille, A. Scothey, Autor de David, Lille, 1983, no. 144, illustrated, and a painting sold at Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1981, lot 95, illustrated. The Sotheby's painting which differs from the present drawing in the Corinthian rather then Doric capitals, was related to a series of four paintings of 1787-8 and it is possible that this study dates from the same period. The drawing reveals the lasting influence of Panini. The medium is an unusual one for Robert