Hubert Robert View of the Portico of the Pantheon Red chalk, dated i.c. 1762 PROVENANCE Whilst studying at the Academie Francaise under its director Charles-Joseph Natoire, Hubert produced many drawings of this type, views of Rome and the surrounding landscape, executed entirely in red chalk. The institution at this time was encouraging its pupils to draw outside, but Hubert’s choice of medium was quite unusual. Watercolour was the habitual medium in which the French depicted plein air scenes; Hubert and his contemporary Fragonard, seem to have been among the first artists to choose red chalk for their landscape drawings, and their skill in this medium remained unsurpassed by subsequent artists. This drawing depicts the portico of the pantheon in Rome. |
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