Hubert RobertFrench, 1733–1808A Draftsman in the Capitoline Gallery
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Draftsman in the Capitoline Gallery” now? Collection: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Not on view at present. Checked October 7, 2026.
Los Angeles, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
An artist sits drawing in an ancient sculpture gallery. Light streams in from the left, where the gallery is open to a courtyard. During the eighteenth century young artists flocked to Rome from all over Europe to study the monuments of antiquity and the Renaissance. This red chalk drawing depicts the Capitoline Museum, a gallery of ancient sculpture which opened in Rome in 1734 and quickly became a *de facto* classroom for aspiring artists. The figure of the draftsman is likely Robert himself. His choice to place the draftsman surrounded by monumental sculptures, creates a sense of the overwhelming effect of the ancients on eighteenth-century artists.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 2007.12
In the catalog
Sources
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Image: J. Paul Getty Museum — Open Content
In the life of Hubert Robert
The whole life1754–1765 · Workplace
Rome
1754–1765
Roman circle: Panini, Piranesi, Fragonard
In Rome Robert studied perspective under the veduta master Giovanni Paolo Panini, met Piranesi, and became friends with Jean-Honoré Fragonard and the Abbé de Saint-Non; with Fragonard he drew from nature in Rome and its environs and stayed for long periods at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli.
August 1765
Return to Paris
After eleven years in Italy Robert returned to Paris, where his success was swift.
1766 · Membership
Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture
1767
Debut at the Paris Salon
Robert presented thirteen paintings and numerous drawings of ruined classical architecture at the Salon, winning critical acclaim; Diderot wrote: "The ideas that ruins awaken in me are grand." He continued to take part in the Salons regularly until 1798.
