G. WALLIS (1761-1847), Tivoli with the Temple... Lot 353

G. WALLIS (1761-1847), Tivoli with the Temple of Vesta, around 1800, Pencil George Augustus Wallis (1761 Merton (London) - 1847 Florence): View of Tivoli with the Temple of Vesta, c. 1800, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Inscription: Verso numbered: "Tivoli 2". Date: c. 1800 Description: George Augustus Wallis, during his lifetime a highly celebrated painter of classicism and today unjustly forgotten in art history, shows in this view of Tivoli precisely the break between classicism and romanticism. Whereas previously the emphasis had been on documenting the monumentality and elegance of antiquity in his paintings, in the Romantic period nature increasingly took centre stage. Wallis illustrates this process in his sheet when he allows Tivoli to grow almost imperceptibly out of the tree-covered hills, so that it does not catch the eye at first glance. Nature and the view of the landscape form the centre of interest and displace antiquity in favour of a new self-image. | Watermark: Crown Provenance: From the estate of the artist. Verso: another pencil drawing: rock formation in the mountains Keywords: Tivoli, temple, Vesta, southern landscape, houses, Italy, deciduous forest, trees, slope, hill, 19th century, Romanticism, Landscape, Italy, Size: Paper: 27,9 cm x 40,7 cm (11 x 16 in)