Castello dell'Acqua Giulia...

Black pencil drawing, mm 305x225, lower left bears the inscription Château de l'aqua Giulia prés de St. Marie Majeure.

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, not translated into one of the lithographic plates accompanying Rome dans sa Grandeur, shows the so-called Nymphaeum of Alexander Severus. Emperor Alexander Severus had a grandiose and scenic nymphaeum built on the Esquiline Hill, full of water-filled basins, marble statues and groups, and gilded bronze elements: its position on one of the highest points of the city made it visible from various parts of Rome, and the sound produced by the water in it filled the entire surrounding area.

The nymphaeum of Alexander Severus was a castellum aquae, that is, a point of distribution of water to imperial buildings, to private citizens who requested it, and to public buildings, such as the fountains that were encountered numerous in the streets. Since the Middle Ages, the building has been known as the Trophies of Marius due to the presence of the two marble trophies, mistakenly attributed to the victories of Caius Marius, that decorated the monument until 1590, when Pope Sixtus V ordered their relocation to the balustrade of the Capitoline Hill's.

In the volume Rome Antique a small section is devoted to the ancient Roman aqueducts, edited by Eugenie de la Gournerie: “Les eaux nécessaires aux habitants de Rome et à un si grand nombre d'établissements thermaux provenaient de quatorze sources amenées à grands frais d'une distance de trente à quarante-cinq milles. La plus anciennement amenée, l'eau Appia, l'avait été en l'an de Rome 442, par l'illustre censeur Appius Claudius Caecus. […] Trente-neuf ans après (an 481), un autre censeur, Manlius Curius Dentatus, fit une prise d'eau sur l'Anio, à vingt milles de Rome, et consacra aux frais de l'aqueduc l'argent des dépouilles de Pyrrhus. L'eau ainsi amenée prit le nom d'Anio Vetus. Puis, vinrent successivement l'eau Marcia, amenée par le préteur Marcius Rex, en 608; la Tepula, par Cneus Servilius Cepio, en 627 ou 629; la Julia et l'Alseatina, par Auguste, de 719 à 727; la Virgo (l'Eau Vierge), par Agrippa, en 737; la Claudia et l'Anio Novns, par Caligula et Claude, de l'an 789 ill'an 805. […] Ces détails minutieux nous sont donnés par Frontin. Mais; après lui, Trajan amena, en l'an de Rome 863, l'eau Sabatina sur le faite du Janicule; Septime Sévère tìt couler l'eau Severiana dans les étuves de la première région; Caracalla introduisit, à son tour, l'eau Antoniana dans ses immenses thermes; Alexandre Sévère fit venir l'eau Alexandrina pour l'usage des siens; et Dioclétien répandit l'eau Jovia dans la vallée que parcourt la voie Appienne. La plus célèbre de ces eaux pour sa bonté était l'eau Marcia; elle avait néanmoins dans l'eau Claudia une rivale. L'Alseatina, au contraire, et la Sabatina passaient pour n'ètre ni agréables ni salubres. Auguste n'avait fait venir l'Alseatina que pour le service de sa naumachie; elle arrosait, en outre, un certain nombre de jardins. La Sabatina faisait tourner un grand nombre de moulins pour la consommation de la ville. Elle remplit aujourd'hui encore le meme emploi; car l'Aqua Paola n,est que la réunion, par Paul III, des deux sources amenées par Trajan et par Auguste.  Sur la rive gauche du 'fibre, l'Acqua Felice nous représente l'ancienne source Alexandrine, retrouvée par Sixte-Quint et élevée par lui à un niveau supérieur à celui qu'elle avait dans l'antiquité; enfin, l'eau Vierge continue de couler à flots au pied du Quirinal, où les papes lui ont consacré la riche fontaine de Trévi, ainsi que dans tout l'ancien Champ de Mars où la portent les canaux souterrains qui ont donné leur nom à la via de'Condotti. Ainsi, des quatorze sources que possédait Rome, il n'en reste plus que quatre qui suffisent à l'alimentation et à l'agrémen de la ville. Rome est toujours la ville aux fountaines jaillissantes, et nulle part l’eau n’a plus de fraicheur ni de limpidité”  (Rome dans sa Grandeur, Rome Antique, c. I, pp. 44-45).