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Imaginary View of a Roman Villa

mid-1770s
Not on view
One nineteenth-century writer described this Roman villa as the Villa Borghese; another later identified it as the Villa Doria Pamphili. We now know that the stately residence and its garden were drawn from imagination in Fragonard’s Italian studio. The drawing dates from the artist’s second trip to Italy in 1773-74 when he was generally more preoccupied with the mood of his subject than the rendering of actual appearance. Magnificent parasol pines populate the landscape. Fragonard’s fascination with the elegance and complexity of pine branches is evidenced by the delicate tracery of their extensive under drawing.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Imaginary View of a Roman Villa
  • Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
  • Date: mid-1770s
  • Medium: Bister wash over pencil
  • Dimensions: 11 5/16 x 15 3/8 in. (28.8 x 39 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.630
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

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Danse de satyres, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, first state
Danse de satyres
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
The Vision of Saint Jerome, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, first state
The Vision of Saint Jerome
Jean Honoré Fragonard
Johann Liss
1763–64
Bacchante et jeune satyre, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching
Bacchante et jeune satyre
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
Bacchanale - Satyr and Nymph with Infant and Infant Satyr, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Etching, second state
Bacchanale - Satyr and Nymph with Infant and Infant Satyr
Jean Honoré Fragonard
n.d.
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, Jean Honoré Fragonard French, Black chalk counterproof, re-worked in black chalk
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
Jean Honoré Fragonard
Mattia Preti (Il Cavalier Calabrese)
ca. 1761

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