Foro Romano

Black pencil drawing, mm 315x277.

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.

Untranslated into a lithograph, this drawing shows on the right the area of the Roman Forum, occupied by the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the - no longer extant - church of S. Maria Liberatrice al Foro, and includes the area surrounding the church itself, occupied by grazing herds.

This is probably one of the last representations of the church whose demolition began on January 1, 1900, to unearth the church of Santa Maria Antiqua. The undertaking lasted until the end of 1903. The excavations brought to light a series of classical buildings that form the connecting element between the Roman Forum and the Palatine.

At the time of the publication of Rome dans san Grandeur an excavation enterprise had been attempted in the area on the slopes of the Palatine but, as the celebrated archaeologist and co-author of the work, Giovan Battista de Rossi, informs, in "Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana," VI (1868), Notizie, p. 91: “ma trovatala assai più ardua dell'espettazione, la commissione del predetto ministero [cioè il ministero
delle antichità e belle arti ndr.] ha dovuto differire a migliore opportunità la desiderata scoperta. Le terre accumulate dopo i tempi di Clemente XI dietro la chiesa di s. Maria sono giunte a tale altezza, che lo scavo a cielo aperto quivi è divenuto dispendiosissimo: nè agevole sarebbe il procedere per cunicoli e poco gioverebbe allo scopo. Adunque con dispiacere annunzio, che per ora è d'uopo rinunciare alla speranza di rivedere le pitture di storie evangeliche accompagnate d'iscrizioni greche e latine e dell'immagine del papa Paolo I tuttora vivente: monumento che sarebbe stato utilissimo confrontare con gli affreschi scoperti in s. Clemente e coi primitivi dipinti delle catacombe romane”.

I personally believe that the then-current events related to the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice explain why there is no description of the church itself in the work and also why this drawing, in which the area behind the church is central, was not translated into a lithograph.

We thus have further evidence of how up-to-date the work was with the most recent discoveries and excavation undertakings.

Here, instead, is the timely description of the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux: “On a longtemps attribué et l'on attribue quelquefois encoré à la Grecostase, qui était une enceinte comme le Comitium, mais ne fut jamais un temple, les trois belles colonnes voisines de Sainte-Marie-Libératrice. La découverte du soubassement de la basilique Julia, dont la situation est elairement indiquée, inter aedem Castoris et aedem Saturni, ne peut plus laisser de doute aujourd'hui sur le monument dont faisaient partie ces colonnes. Nous savons que le temple de Castor fut reconstruit par Auguste et dédié par Tibère; et, en effet, les débris dont nous parlons appartiennent à la plus belle époque de l'art. Les colonnes sont de marbre pentélique cannelé et d'ordre corinthien; leur diamètre est de 4 pieds et demi; leur hauteur de 45, avec chapiteau et base. Elles supportent un entablement majestueux et d'un travail exquis” (Rome dans sa grandeur – Rome Antique, c. II, p. 55).