Hubert Robert

M. Saget, Tours;
His (anonymous) sale, Paris Hôtel Drouot, 14 March 1910, lot 8;
There acquired by Lennie Davis;
Possibly Comte Legendre d'Onzembray, Château de Villemereuil, Aube;
Possibly Etienne Marie Antoine Champion, Comte de Nansouty, Paris;
Comte and Comtesse de la Béraudière, Paris;
With Edouard Jonas, Paris, by 1928;
Mrs. I.D. Levy, later Mrs. Joseph D. Heine, New York;
Her sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, 24-25 November 1944, lot 257, to E. Holt for $7,000;
Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy, Perrysburg, Ohio;
By whom given to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio in 1945 (Acc. no. 45.24);
By whom sold, New York, Christie's, 6 June 1984, lot 94;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 11 December 1985, lot 87.

Poughkeepsie, NY, Vassar College Art Museum, Hubert Robert, 9 October-11 November 1962, no. 11;
New York, Wildenstein, Hubert Robert: The Pleasure of Ruins, 15 November-16 December 1988 (no number).

"French 17th-18th Century Oil Paintings Acquired Since 1939," in Museum News, The Toledo Museum of Art, III, No. 4, Autumn 1969, pp. 74, 94;
The Toledo Museum of Art: European Paintings, Toledo 1976, p. 395, reproduced;
C. Burgard, in Le Paysage et la question du sublime, exhibition catalogue, Valence 1997, p. 231, under cat. no. 38 (erroneously lists date as 1793).

The painting is in lovely state. The canvas has a modern glue relining and is firmly stretched. The painting is clean beneath a fresh clear varnish. The paint surface is slightly pressed and thin in areas of the darks, such as the rock formations but this does not affect a reading of the image. Inspection under ultraviolet reveals strengthening retouches scattered through the sky, providing definition is some of the architecture, tree and rock formations. These are largely cosmetic, are not visible to the naked eye and do not disrupt the image in any way. The painting requires no further work and is ready to hang. Offered in a carved gilt wood frame with some minor knocks and losses.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This painting belongs to a set of four Italianate landscapes executed by Robert in 1795.  All four belonged to Mrs. Joseph D. Heine (see Provenance) and were included in the sale of her property in New York in 1944.  The paintings, which were sold as separate lots, were acquired in that sale by the same buyer and separated shortly thereafter, as the present work alone was given to the Toledo Museum of Art the following year.

The Ponte Lucano, a graceful arched bridge spaning the Aniene River, is located about two miles from Tivoli.  The bridge was built in the 1st century B.C. by M. Plautius Lucanus and served the road from Tivoli to Rome until the mid-20th century.  The cylindrical structure seen at far right is the tomb of the Plautian family.  The mausoleum was built by Marcus Plautius Silvanus, a friend of Caesar Augustus and consul in 2 B.C.  Externally covered in blocks of travertine stone, it was much restored during the Middle Ages.

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the paintings of Hubert Robert being prepared with the assistance of the Wildenstein Institute.