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

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attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
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Design for a sepulchral monument with Mary Magdalen and Saint Jerome (recto); Sketch (counterproof) and writing exercises (verso), Pieter Verbruggen the Younger Flemish, Pen and brown ink (recto); pen and brown ink, counterproof of a red chalk drawing (verso) — Design for a sepulchral monument with Mary Magdalen and Saint Jerome (recto); Sketch (counterproof) and writing exercises (verso)
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Former Attribution Formerly attributed to Anonymous, Flemish, 17th century
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