A la Villa Borghese

Black pencil drawing, mm 311x455, lower left: A la ville Borghése.

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 in Rome dans sa Grandeur shows a perspective view of Villa Borghese. In Rome dans sa Grandeur, in the volume Rome Moderne, there is a plate devoted to Villa Borghese that has a much broader perspective, in which the Galleria Borghese is glimpsed in the background, to include the wide avenues, the plants and shrubs, the statues and show all the beauty of the villa of the Roman people, as Edmond Lafond defines it:

“La Villa Borghese est la villa du peuple romain; ouverte au public, c'est le bois de Boulogne de Rome, et elle se trouve remplie, chaque jour, quand il fait beau, d'une foule d'équipages, de cavaliers et de piétons. Ce pare, vraiment royal, renferme des lacs, des fontaines, un hippodrome, plusieurs casini, une chapelle et un palais qui contient une précieuse collection de statues. La famille Borghèse, si grande et si généreuse, donnait fréquemment dans sa villa des fétes, des courses de chevaux et de chars au peuple romain. Les vandales, qui prétendaient défendre Rome, en 1849, ont saccagé ces beaux lieux et coupé ces arbres séculaires dont le public jouissait plus que la famille qui les possède. Ces barbares, dans leur rage de destruction, n'ont pas méme épargné le casino que Raphael lui-mème avait habité et décoré de sa main. […] Le musée Borghèse est magnifiquement logé dans ce palais qu'on appelle palais du Cardinal; il est situé au milieu d'une verte prairie entourée d'arbres, et où viennent aboutir des allées bordées de haies de cyprès et de buis, de cippes et de socies surmontés de statues, de bustes et de vases antiques. De tous còtés jaillissent des fontaines qui retombent en gerbes liquides” (Rome dans sa Grandeur, Rome Moderne, c. I, p. 54).