The Old Temple

1787/88

The four large canvases by Hubert Robert in the Art Institute's collection were commissioned by wealthy financier Jean-Joseph, Marquis de Laborde, to decorate a salon in his château at Méréville, France. Robert was much sought after as a painter of architectural ruins, a genre that appealed to the late 18th-century taste for the antique. He cultivated his knowledge of antiquity over more than a decade of travel and study in Italy.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Hubert Robert (French, 1733-1808)

Date

1787/88

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

255 × 223.2 cm (100 3/8 × 87 7/8 in.); Framed: 265.5 × 233.4 cm (104 1/2 × 91 7/8 in.)

Origin

France

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Gift of Adolphus C. Bartlett