Vue prise du Palais des Cesars

Black pencil drawing, mm 445x305, 1864-1869 circa. Inscribed at lower right Vue prise du Palais des Cesars.

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.

Preparatory study for the plate Veduta presa dal Palazzo de’ Cesari Colosseo, Basilica di Costantino e Chiesa di Santa Francesca Romana. The drawing is attributed to Fèlix on the basis of the lithograph bearing the authors' names at the bottom: Félix Benoist del. Sabatier lith. Fig. par Bayot.

Compared to the lithograph, the perspective of the drawing is different, taken “from the stratum of the Palatine overlooking the Velabro” (A. Nibby), where once stood the house of Senator Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, consul in 115 B.C., which according to Cicero was purchased by Publius Clodius, aedile in 56 B.C., a few months before his death. Cicero's verses Pro T. Annio Milone Oratio are shown on the plaque in the foreground: Erat domus Clodii /Ante paucos menses erupta / De Marco Scauri/ in Palatino.

“Nous nous retrouvons ici au milieu de tous les grands souvenirs de Rome. A deux pas est l'arc de Titus; non loin étaient les Rostres; nous sommes sur la voie sacrée que parcouraient les triomphateurs, et, devant nous, sont les débris de ce temple de Vénus et Rome qu'Adrien avait dessiné lui-mème. Avant Adrien, c'était là que se trouvait l'atrium de la maison dorée de Néron. Voilà cc qui entoure ou ce qui a précédé cette église, construite et reconstruite deux ou trois fois depuis plus de mille ans, et dont la splendeur n'a fait que croitre. Elle est mentionnée sous le nom de Santa-Maria-Antiqua, sous le pontificat de Jean VII, c'est-à-dire au commencemcnt du VIUC siècle; mais, à partir du pontificat de Nicolas I^er, qui la restaura en 860, on ne la nomme plus que Santa-Maria Nuova, et ce nom lui reste jusqu'au XVII" siècle, époquc de la canonisation de sainte Françoise Romaine, qui y avait été enterrée. Le vocable de la nouvelle sainte a, depuis lors, prévalu” (Rome dans sa grandeur – Rome Chrétienne, cap. I, p. 175).

The large image, which is not for sale, represents the tinted lithograph included in Rome dans sa grandeur. Vues, monument ancient et modernes, and allows us to compare it with the preparatory drawing.