Le Tibre dans Rome

Black pencil drawing, mm 460x290, lower left: Le tibre dans Rome.

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.

This drawing, which does not find a precise lithographic correspondence, is to be related to the section Promenade sur le Tibre, edited by Edomd Lafond - in Rome Moderne where three plates are devoted to the banks of the Tiber. The perspective is very close to that of the plate Ile de St. Barthelemy avec les ponts Saint Barthélemy et des Quatre-Tétes, vue prise du Pont Rompu but here the perspective is from the left bank of the Tiber, looking toward the right bank and the Ponte San Bartolomeo (the name by which from the 15th century the Ponte Cestio was referred to) characterized by the presence of the so-called molini mills:

“Bientòt nous touchons à la pointe de l'ile Saint-Barthèlemy. C'est la seule ile que le Tibre forme dans Rome. Elle nous rappelle l'ìle de la Cité à Paris; comme célle-ci,· elle possède à une de ses extrémités une église, c'est celle de Saint-Barthélemy. Cette ile. est· relié; à la rive gauche par le pont Quattro-Capi, autrefois pont Fabricius, et la rive droite par le pont Saint-Barthélemy, jadis le pont, Cestius. C'est dans cette ile, dédiée à Esculape, le dieu de la médecine, que, par une horrible ironie, les anciens Romains envoyaient mourir de faim les esclaves, vieux et malades, qui ne pouvaient plus leur servir. […] Des deux ponts que nous venons de traverser, on a, soit en aval, .soit en amont, des points de vue d'une originalité tonte romaine, comme on peut le voir dans la gravure ci-jointè qui reproduit cette scène mieux que · ne pourrait le faire notre récit. Au-dessus du pont Saint-Barthélemy, le cours du Tibre est encombré de constructions pittoresques qui font les délices des artistes et des voyageurs dignes de ce nom; ce sont des moulins à eau, flottants et amarrés à des embarcadères, sortes de vieux ponts brisés. Ces moulins sònt chrétiennement couronnés de la croix on du monogramme do Christ. Sur les deux rives sont entassées, sans alignement et sans régularité, des habitations couvertes en tuiles, percées de larges ouvertures et surmontées souvent de ces loggie au travets desquels se jouent l'air et la lomière. Les amateurs qui jouissent de ces perspectives bizarres, tremblent, à la pensée qu'on ne vienne quelque jour aligner là des quais bien propres, bien nivelés et bordés de constructions régulièrenient modernes et ennuyeuses. Dieu préserve Rome de pareils embellissements!” (Rome dans sa Grandeur, Rome Moderne, c. I, p. 66).

Many more mills have always been in the right branch of the river, due to the river's larger size and greater flow on that side; there the last mills were removed only during the construction of the embankments after the big flood of 1870. The Ponte Cestio was also known as "Ponte Ferrato" [bridge-with-iron] for the many mooring chains of the mills around it.

The mills consisted of two floating rafts: on the main one, nearest to the bank, were located the millstones inside the characteristic small house, often with a cross on the top. Between the two rafts was supported the bladed wheel. The rafts were moored to the banks by long chains; a masonry ramp and a wooden footbridge allowed access to the bank.