Lot Essay
Corot arrived in Rome in December 1825 and for the next five months he painted the rooftops of the city from the window of his room, He captured the city's ancient ruins from various vantage points and ventured out into the Campagna to explore the rolling hills. Les Bords du Tibre dans Rome is dated "Janvier 1826", thus making it one of the earliest documented paintings from Corot's first trip to Italy. The view represents the Aventine Hill which is topped with a monastery. The buildings in shadow at the far right are located on an island on the Tiber called the Isola Tibrina. The small, dark grassy area in the center of the river is the remains of a support for a former bridge that connected the Aventine Hill with the Isola Tiberina.
Corot's paintings from his first Italian journey have become known for his sensitive treatment of light, especially as he saw it reflected off the Tiber and the architecture of Rome. In the present painting, the buildings on the Aventine Hill are bathed in the pearly light of the sun that is hidden behind the clouds, and the alternating areas of light and shadow are differentiated by the cubist shapes of the architecture. In contrast, the reflection of the buildings and clouds on the water are merged in a soft blur of the same palette. The cubist depiction of the architecture is reminiscent of Corot's three views in the Farnese Gardens painted the following month, in March 1826 (one is in The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; two are in The Louvre). The palette of Les Bords du Tibre dans Rome consists predominantly of warm beige and gray tones, the colors that characterized most of Corot's early Italian views. However, he contrasts these colors by introducing a repoussoir in the lower right of the composition in the form of a rolling green hill. The remarkable boldness of this device was fifty years before its time; as Edgar Degas said, "He [Corot] is always the greatest, he has anticipated everything."
Martin Dieterle has examined and confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
Corot's paintings from his first Italian journey have become known for his sensitive treatment of light, especially as he saw it reflected off the Tiber and the architecture of Rome. In the present painting, the buildings on the Aventine Hill are bathed in the pearly light of the sun that is hidden behind the clouds, and the alternating areas of light and shadow are differentiated by the cubist shapes of the architecture. In contrast, the reflection of the buildings and clouds on the water are merged in a soft blur of the same palette. The cubist depiction of the architecture is reminiscent of Corot's three views in the Farnese Gardens painted the following month, in March 1826 (one is in The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; two are in The Louvre). The palette of Les Bords du Tibre dans Rome consists predominantly of warm beige and gray tones, the colors that characterized most of Corot's early Italian views. However, he contrasts these colors by introducing a repoussoir in the lower right of the composition in the form of a rolling green hill. The remarkable boldness of this device was fifty years before its time; as Edgar Degas said, "He [Corot] is always the greatest, he has anticipated everything."
Martin Dieterle has examined and confirmed the authenticity of this painting.