View of Saint Peter's in Rome
Medium
Graphite on buff wove paper
Dimensions
33.6 × 49 cm (13 1/4 × 19 5/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
12865
Art Historical Context
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, a of French Neoclassicism, the majestic dome of Saint Peter's Basilica in exquisite graphite drawing on buff wove paper. Created around the early 19th century during one of Ingres' extended stays in Rome—where he lived from 1806 to 1820—this panoramic view (33.6 × 49 cm) showcases his unparalleled precision and linearity, hallmarks of his draftsmanship. The warm buff paper enhances the subtle tonal gradations, allowing the architectural grandeur of Bernini's Baroque masterpiece to emerge with crystalline clarity. Ingres' drawings, often preparatory studies or in...
About the Artist
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres · 1780–1867
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born on 29 August 1780 in Montauban, in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of southern France, into a family with deep artistic and musical connections — his father was a painter, sculptor, and musician. He showed exceptional promise from childhood, enrolling at the Académie Royale in Toulouse where he studied under the sculptor Jean-Pierre Vigan, the landscape painter Je...