Gilles-François-Joseph Closson, 'Antique Ruins (the Baths of Caracalla?)', about 1824-9
On loan: Gere Collection Paintings to the Ashmolean (2024 - 2026), The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK About the work
Overview
As in 'The Cascade at Tivoli', Closson has left this oil sketch unfinished. It is still possible to see parts of his preliminary drawing in the lower left-hand corner. The ruins in the background have not been identified. The dark red colour of the brickwork and the arches suggest the ruins in Rome, particularly on the Palatine Hill, and also those at Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli. It has been suggested that the arch in the centre, with a slight curve and the shadow of the higher arch on the brick wall above, may be one of the archways in the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Antique Ruins (the Baths of Caracalla?)
- Artist dates
- 1798 - 1842
- Date made
- about 1824-9
- Medium and support
- Oil on paper laid on canvas
- Dimensions
- 30.9 × 37.6 cm
- Acquisition credit
- The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery
- Inventory number
- L810
- Location
- On loan: Gere Collection Paintings to the Ashmolean (2024 - 2026), The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK
- Image copyright
- The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery, © Private collection 2000. Used by permission
- Collection
- Main Collection
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
