View of Rome

Pierre Henri de Valenciennes painted this small oil study of Rome around 1782-1784, during his formative years in Italy studying the Roman landscape. Valenciennes would become the most influential theorist and teacher of landscape painting in France, publishing his landmark treatise in 1800 that argued for landscape as a serious genre worthy of academic recognition. His small, direct oil sketches from nature — painted on paper mounted on board — were revolutionary for their time and are now recognized as crucial precursors to the plein air painting of Corot and the Barbizon school.

This oil on paper study captures the specific quality of Roman light with remarkable freshness and immediacy, using rapid, confident brushstrokes and a restricted palette to record atmospheric effects that would later inform the artist's larger studio compositions.