A Capriccio of a ruined Temple with a Colosseum beyond

This previously unpublished work is among only a few dated paintings by Franois de Nom and is typical of a group of his paintings of the same period in which he uses a cuir repouss technique. To achieve the painterly effect he sought, Nom worked the thick impasto of the paint with a tool, such as the handle of the paintbrush. Although born in Lorraine, Franois de Nom travelled first to Rome before settling in Naples in 1610. The present painting is typical of compositions he created for his Neapolitan patrons in which there is considerable ambiguity of subject. He enriches his composition with classical references (the Colosseum and temple ruins) and borrowed motifs, but they are also laiden with a sense of mystery created by the fragments of buildings, mysterious statues and shrouded figures.