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Ruined Bridge with Figures Crossing

1767
Hubert Robert (French, 1733–1808)

In 1766, on his return to France after eleven years in Italy, Hubert Robert was made a full member of the French Academy and the following year caused a sensation at the Salon with thirteen paintings of ruins. Exhibited under the title: Un Pont, sous lequel on voit les Campagnes de Sabine, this painting was the subject of much commentary by the art critic Denis Diderot who was very taken by the grandeur of Robert’s Italian landscape.

Robert specialized in paintings of idealized landscapes and architectural fantasies and drew much of his imagery from the studies he made during his Italian sojourn. During his lifetime, Robert was recognized as one of France’s finest landscape and view painters, as well as an accomplished garden designer. A prolific artist who exhibited regularly at the Salon until 1798, Robert was imprisoned during the French Revolution but later held an official position as a curator of the Musee du Louvre where he helped to organize temporary exhibitions.


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