Plate Nine from Evenings in Rome
1763/64
Medium
Etching in black on off-white laid paper, tipped onto tan laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 13.5 × 9.3 cm (5 3/8 × 3 11/16 in.); Secondary Support: 18.7 × 13.6 cm (7 3/8 × 5 3/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
206980
Art Historical Context
Hubert Robert, a masterful French artist often dubbed "Robert des Ruines," created *Plate Nine from Evenings in Rome* during his formative years in Italy (1755–1765). Dated 1763/64, this etching captures the enchantment of Rome's twilight vistas, part of a series evoking the city's ancient grandeur amid fading light. Robert's sojourn in the Eternal City profoundly shaped his neoclassical style, blending precise architectural observation with romantic imagination, influencing generations of landscape and veduta painters. Executed as a black etching on off-white laid paper and tipped onto tan l...
About the Artist
Hubert Robert · 1733–1808
Hubert Robert, born on May 22, 1733, in Paris, emerged from a modest background; his father, Nicolas Robert, served the influential Choiseul family, whose patronage shaped the young artist's path. After completing his studies at the Jesuit Collège de Navarre in 1751, he entered the atelier of sculptor Michel-Ange Slodtz, who taught him design and perspective before encouraging a shift to painting....