The Artist’s Studio, ca. 1760

About the Work

Hubert Robert came to Rome, the Eternal City, in 1753 in the entourage of the French ambassador. His patron, the Duc de Choiseul, recommended him for a place at the prestigious Académie de France. This painting probably dates from Robert’s period of study in Rome, for while it is artistically ambitious there are flaws in the perspective. It is perhaps no accident that he has depicted an artist working on a relief: Robert, who was to become such an important painter of architecture and townscapes, had learned drawing from a Parisian sculptor.