Temple de Vesta et de la Fortune Virile

Reference: S36339
Author Felix BENOIST
Year: 1864 ca.
Zone: Foro Romano
Measures: 325 x 242 mm
€1,000.00

Reference: S36339
Author Felix BENOIST
Year: 1864 ca.
Zone: Foro Romano
Measures: 325 x 242 mm
€1,000.00

Description

Black pencil drawing, mm 323x243. Bottom right: Temples de Vesta et de la fortune Virile.

Belongs to a collection of 127 works unearthed from a French antiquarian who, in turn, had acquired them from the heirs of publisher Henri-Désiré Charpentier (La Rochelle 1805 - Vertou 1882); they are all done in black pencil, some have white lead highlighting; they never bear the date and signature of the author, but only a brief caption relating to the subjects depicted. The drawings denote a skilled and expert hand - especially in the delineation of buildings, ruins and architecture - that restores the monuments of Rome from interesting and unusual perspective points. The reference of most of the drawings to some of the tinted lithographs by Felix and Philippe Benoist, published in the three-volume work Rome dans sa grandeur, immediately became clear. The fact that this is a large group of original drawings related to the famous work edited by Henri-Désiré Charpentier is clearly supported by the prestigious provenance; it is a part of Charpentier's heir fund, among which the material of the famous chalcographic workshop had been divided.

Rome dans sa grandeur. Vues, monument ancient et modernes was printed in Paris in 3 volumes, in 1870. The publication, illustrated by 100 lithographs, was preceded by a campaign of preparatory drawings, dating from 1864 until 1869, executed mainly by Félix Benoist and partly by Philippe Benoist. On the eve of the Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano I, on August 11, 1869, Pius IX decreed the creation of a Roman Exhibition of the works of every art executed for Catholic worship, which was inaugurated, on February 17, 1870, in the cloister of the Carthusian monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. On that occasion, the three folio volumes Rome dans sa grandeur were presented. The lavishly bound volumes, with the coat of arms of Pius IX stamped in the center in gold, are divided into three sections. The first volume deals with ancient Rome, the second, with Christian Rome, and the third, with the monuments and achievements of modern Rome. A valuable view of papal Rome on the eve of Rome's profound transformation into the capital of united Italy. A document that highlights the remarkable imprint left by Pius IX on the Eternal City. The work represents the French artist's masterpiece, so much so that it places Benoist among the ranks of the greatest artists of interiors and views of his time.

The sheets used for the preliminary studies vary in size (from 170 mm x 240 to 490 x 300 mm), weight and even color gradation (from beige to green).  Many of the drawings undeniably represent different preparatory stages - more or less complete - of some of the dyed lithographs illustrating the magnificent work, others of the silographic vignettes included in the text, while other sketches do not find translation in print. Belonging to this second group are both sketches relating to monuments and views of Rome and its surroundings: ancient Ostia, Grottaferrata, Olevano Romano, Anzio, Nettuno, Velletri and Vicovaro. Far beyond from Rome are drawings relating to Naples and Loreto. The suite was to form part of the entire fund, later dispersed, of preparatory studies from which the hundred intended for lithographic printing were selected.

The drawing shows the Temple of Hercules victor, erroneously named Temple of Vesta; it is to be related to the lithographic plate Temple de Vesta et basilique de Sainte-Marie in Cosmedin in the volume Rome Antique - chapter II Ètat actuel des monuments anciens - edited by Eugene de la Gournerie, in which the temple is taken from a different perspective: in the panel, in fact, the perspective is from West to East and includes the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin; in the drawing, on the other hand, the perspective is from the South and includes, therefore, the adjacent temple of Portunus.

Because of its circular shape, like the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum, in the past this temple was also attributed to Vesta.

“Ampère y voit un Temple d'Hercule, Caninà un Temple de Matuta, Nibby un -Temple De Vesta, mais non pas le célèbre tempie de cette déesse, qui contenait le Palladium. Nous savons en effet, par Ovide, que ce dernier touchait au Forum et au tempie de Castor. Matuta, dont le tempie était voisin de celui de la Fortune au Forum Boarium, était la Leucothoé des Grecs, l'épouse infortunée d'Athamas, qui la trahit pour une de ses servantes. Aussi les servantes ne pouvaient-èlles entrer dans son sanctuaire, et celle qui y entrait était battue de verges.

Tout indique que la jolie rotonde qui est attribuée à ces divinités diverses fut reconstruite dans la seconde moitié du deuxième siècle de l'Empire. Elle n'a pas, intérieurement, plus de 28 pieds de diamètre; mais le luxe de sa construction indique u·n tempie renommé. Le mur entier est en marbre blanc; vingt colonnes du mème roarbre, dont' dix-neuf subsistent encore, formaient autour de la cella un portique circulaire de 178 pieds de développement. Ces colonnes_ sont de roarbre de Paros, d'ordre corinthien et cannelées. Elles ont 3 pieds de diamètre et 36 de hauteur, en comprenant le chapiteau et la base. Malheureusement l'entablement n'existe plus, et le dome a été remplacé par une couverture vulgaire. En dépit néanmoins de ces mutilations, et bien que le style des chapiteaux indique déjà une époque de décadence, le tempie de Vesta n'en demeure pas moins, ainsi qu'on peut s'en convaincre par la planche qui le représente, un des joyaux de l'architecture antique” (Rome dans sa Grandeur, Rome Antique, c. II, p. 57).

The last image, which is not for sale, represents the tinted lithograph included in Rome dans sa grandeur. Vues, monument ancient et modernes, and allows us to compare it with the preparatory drawing.

Felix BENOIST (1818 - 1896)

Félix Benoist was a skilful and composed litographer and one of the most renewed French artists of landscapes in the 19th century. He printed many works together with Philippe Benoist, painter and lithographer born in Geneva in 1813, among which are: “Rome dans sa grandeur” a beautiful and thorough work on Papal Rome.

Felix BENOIST (1818 - 1896)

Félix Benoist was a skilful and composed litographer and one of the most renewed French artists of landscapes in the 19th century. He printed many works together with Philippe Benoist, painter and lithographer born in Geneva in 1813, among which are: “Rome dans sa grandeur” a beautiful and thorough work on Papal Rome.