LONDON.- Two monumental paintings completed by French artist Hubert Robert in 1797 offer a glimpse into the imagination of one of the eighteenth century's most celebrated painters of architectural ruins. Presented by Colnaghi, the works bring together classical sculpture, invented landscapes, ancient monuments and unexpected architectural combinations, revealing how Robert transformed his memories of Italy into compositions that explored the passage of time and the relationship between history and imagination.

Both paintings, measuring 242 by 242 centimeters, belong to Robert's mature period and were created during a particularly significant chapter of his life, following his imprisonment during the French Revolution and his subsequent return to public service as a curator at the Louvre.

Known for his evocative portrayals of crumbling monuments and picturesque settings, Robert (1733–1808) developed an artistic language that blurred the boundaries between observed reality and fantasy. His paintings frequently depicted architecture that appeared historically convincing but existed nowhere outside the artist's imagination.

This approach was central to the capriccio, a genre in which artists combined buildings, sculptures, landscapes and archaeological remains from different sources into imaginary yet visually coherent scenes.

Robert's fascination with architectural invention emerged during the eleven years he spent in Italy after arriving in Rome in 1754. Traveling in the entourage of the French ambassador Étienne François, comte de Stainville, later duc de Choiseul, the young painter immersed himself in the artistic and architectural heritage of the ancient city.

He studied at the French Academy in Rome under Giovanni Paolo Panini, whose imaginative architectural compositions helped shape his artistic direction, and received guidance from the influential printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Together, these experiences encouraged Robert to view ancient monuments not merely as archaeological subjects but as elements that could be rearranged to create new artistic narratives.

Upon returning to Paris, Robert quickly established his reputation, gaining admission to the Académie Royale in 1766. The following year, he exhibited thirteen paintings at the Paris Salon, attracting the attention of philosopher and art critic Denis Diderot.

Writing about Robert's work in 1767, Diderot reflected on the emotional power of ruins and the questions they raised about humanity's place in history. For the philosopher, the remains of once-great civilizations were reminders that human achievements eventually disappear while time continues its relentless course.

Three decades later, Robert continued to investigate these ideas through increasingly sophisticated compositions.

The first of the two 1797 paintings, A capriccio of a villa surrounded by a moat, with a classical statue of a goddess to the left, depicts an architectural setting that appears both familiar and impossible to identify. A villa surrounded by water stands alongside a classical sculpture, bringing together elements that suggest the ancient world without representing a specific historical location.

Rather than documenting an existing building, Robert assembled details drawn from his extensive knowledge of architecture to create a convincing fictional environment. The painting demonstrates his ability to make imaginary structures seem as substantial and believable as surviving monuments.

The second work, A capriccio featuring ancient ruins, a fountain in the foreground, and a self-portrait of the artist at work, presents an even more elaborate combination of architectural references.

An antique fountain and scattered ruins occupy the foreground, while a fortified settlement rises in the distance. The sculptural figure above the fountain recalls the Apollo Belvedere, one of the most famous surviving statues of classical antiquity and a recurring source of inspiration for Robert.

The distant town evokes the hilltop setting of Tivoli, near Rome, but its rounded towers and sloping roofs resemble those of a French Renaissance château. By merging Italian landscapes with French architectural traditions, Robert created a setting that reflects both his formative experiences abroad and his cultural origins.

The painting also includes an intriguing personal detail. Near the lower left corner, a small figure is shown sketching outdoors. Scholars have suggested that this may be a self-portrait of Robert, based on comparisons with contemporary likenesses of the artist and his documented practice of drawing directly from nature.

Although painters and draftsmen frequently appear in Robert's landscapes, relatively few can be identified with confidence as representations of the artist himself. This possible self-portrait provides an unusually personal dimension to a composition otherwise devoted to monumental architecture and the imaginative reconstruction of the past.

Robert incorporated his signature and the date directly into both paintings. In the villa scene, "H. Robert / 1797" appears on the plinth of the classical statue, while the companion painting bears "Robert / 1797" on a board held by a figure dressed in red.

These inscriptions reinforce the relationship between the artist and the invented worlds he constructed.

The historical circumstances surrounding the paintings also contribute to their significance. During the French Revolution, Robert was imprisoned before eventually regaining his freedom and resuming his professional activities. Under the Directory, he returned to his role at the Louvre, where he participated in the transformation of the former royal palace into a public museum.

In 1796, just one year before completing the two capricci, Robert exhibited a celebrated pair of paintings showing the Louvre's Grande Galerie in contrasting circumstances. One imagined the gallery organized as a museum, while the other depicted the same interior in ruins.

The juxtaposition connected Robert's longstanding interest in architectural decay with the upheavals he had witnessed in France. It also highlighted a recurring tension in his art between the preservation of cultural heritage and the inevitability of change.

The two works dated 1797 may be viewed within that broader artistic and historical context. Their imagined buildings and ancient sculptures speak to the enduring influence of classical civilization, while their construction from different architectural traditions reflects an artist reconsidering the relationship between past and present.

Both canvases retain their original stretchers, an important feature of their physical history, and their identical dimensions suggest that they were conceived as companion works.

Now highlighted by Colnaghi, the London-founded gallery established in 1760 and specializing in Old Master paintings, drawings and works of art, the pair offers an opportunity to reconsider Robert's achievement beyond his familiar reputation as a painter of ruins.

His architectural fantasies were not simply exercises in picturesque invention. They represented a way of thinking about history through painting, bringing recognizable fragments of the past into landscapes that could never have existed.

In Robert's hands, ruins became more than remnants of vanished civilizations. They offered a means of imagining how cultures endure, how monuments acquire new meanings, and how art can reconstruct the past while acknowledging the passage of time.