Nymphée de la Nymphe Egerie pres de St. Sebastien

Drawing in black pencil, mm 468x306, lower right : Nimphée dit de la Nimphe Egerie pres de St. Sebastien hors les murs. On the verso another drawing with a glimpse of a Roman palace, unidentified.

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.

Preparatory drawing for the vignette placed at the end of Chapter V of Volume III, p. 25 showing the so-called Nymphaeum of Egeria.

The nymphaeum of Egeria was probably part of the waterworks of a nearby villa belonging to to Herodes Atticus, whose famous triopion, an agricultual estate dedicated to the memory of his wife Annia Regilla, extended from the Appian Way to the banks of the Almo river (currently named Almone).

The mistaken identification with the Grotto of the Nymph Egeria, mentioned in the ancient sources, dates bak to the period of Renaissance humanism when a number of scholars came to believe that the nymphaeum was the location of the spring and sacred woods where according to the tradition Numa Pompilius (second king of Rome) met with Nymph Egeria.

The description of the Nymphaeum in Rome dans sa Grandeur is very evocative: “A moins d'un demi-mille au delà de cette première station, la vallée acquiert tout son charme pittoresque. Cet endroit a été précisément choisi pour y établir une des plus remarquablesnymphées que l'on connaisse. Tout le monde sait que ce nom servait à désigner de petites chapelles souterraines construites dans le voisinage des rivières ou des lacs, en l'honneur des divinités protectrices des eaux. L'entrée en était indiquée par une décoration architecturale,et l'intérieur en était orné comme celui des temples ordinaires. L'abord de la nymphée du vallon de l'Almone s'annonçait par un portique de colonnes, dont il ne reste que la trace. Les ouvrages principaux se sont conservés. C'est une construction en briques et en opus reticulatum, sur laquelle les herbes, les arbrisseaux ont pris la place des marbres et des stucs qui la revêtaient. Elle se continueet tapisse tout l'intérieurde la grotte, en dessinant onze niches, dont la principale, celle du milieu, a conservé sa statue. C'est la representation d'un homme,dans la positionet avec les attributsordinairement assignés aux statues allégoriquesdes fleuves. La divinité honorée en ce lieu était donc très-probablementl'Almone, le dieu de la petite rivière voisine. Les quelques recherches auxquelles on s'est livré sur place, on fait découvrir que la chapelle était dallée en serpentin et que les parois étaient revêtues d'un marbre vert antique avec des ornements de pierres encore pins rares et plus précieuses. Ce petit monument, si poétiquement encadré par un paysage fait pour lui, est un but de promenade que l'on se donnera souvent. Les fraîches impressions, que comporte ce site ravissant, sont bien indiquées dans la jolie vignette que l'on trouvera à la fin de cet article” (Rome dans sa grandeur – Rome Moderne, cap. V, pp. 22-23).

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