Circle of Abraham-Louis-Rodolphe Ducros, Swiss... Lot 138

Circle of Abraham-Louis-Rodolphe Ducros, Swiss 1748-1810- View of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, after Giovanni Battista Piranesi; pen, black ink and watercolour on paper, inscribed 'DUCROS TEMPLE OF PEACE / (BASILICA OF MAXENTIUS)' to the backing board, 39 x 55.5 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: This watercolour appears to be a copy after Giovanni Battista Piranesi's (1720-1778) etching entitled 'Veduta degli Avanzi del Tempio della Pace' [BM 1914,0216.109], first published in 1757. The present work very much recalls the style and technique of Ducros, whose output was heavily influenced by Piranesi, with Andrew Wilton describing in the Burlington Magazine (vol. 117, no. 992, November 1985) how, in Ducros' watercolours, 'the great monuments of the Roman past are depicted in compositions that rely unashamedly on Piranesi'. The present work bearsa striking similarity to a watercolour of the same subject by Ducros, dated to 1779, which is now held in the collection of the Yale Centre for British Art [B1977.14.141].