Five peddlers in a lofty architectural interior

In Hubert Robert’s graphic work, the idea of a door or a window frame used in the foreground as a sort of foil that delimits the composition on the four sides of the sheet, appears frequently, particularly in red chalk drawings, dating from his stay in Rome between 1754 and 1765. In a red chalk drawing dated 1763, representing a View of Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, for example, the view is captured through a large window with a few figures seated next to it, as in the present drawing (inv. D74, Valence, musée des beaux-arts; see Hubert Robert 1733-1808. Un peintre visionnaire, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2016, no. 16, ill). Another example is an enfilade view of the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Rome, dated around 1762, where the composition is seen through a large double door that creates a beautiful effect of deep perspective (inv. KdZ 4528, Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett; J.H. Fragonard e H. Robert a Roma, exhib. cat., Rome, Villa Medici, 1990, no. 107b, ill.).

The two red chalk drawings mentioned above, together with the present one, were probably created at the same time. They are all of the same dimensions, in the same technique, and all three explore the idea of a scene framed by an architectural element to create an illusionistic sense of depth.