The Staircase of the Dragon Fountain at the Villa d’Este, Tivoli

ca. 1760–65

Not on view

In 1760, near the end of his student years in Italy, Fragonard spent a summer at Tivoli, just outside Rome, producing a series of red chalk drawings featuring the lush and overgrown formal gardens of the Villa d’Este. They were met with great acclaim back in Paris, likely spurring the artist to create painterly variants by re-working the chalk counterproofs in sepia wash. This sheet will be the museum’s first example of Fragonard’s innovative use of the technique. Fluid accents in brown wash heighten the contrast of light and shade, evoking the hazy heat and bleaching light of midsummer.

Artwork Details

Title: The Staircase of the Dragon Fountain at the Villa d’Este, Tivoli
Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
Date: ca. 1760–65
Medium: Brush and brown wash over red chalk counterproof
Dimensions: Height: 13 3/4 in. (35 cm)
Width: 18 7/8 in. (48 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Promised Gift of Stephen A. Geiger, in memory of his parents, Howard W. Geiger and Mildred K. Geiger, and in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Jean Honoré Fragonard

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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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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