View in Italy, ca. 1850. Unknown artist. Oil on canvas. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust.
This enigmatic image represents the ancient hill town of Subiaco to the east of Rome. A road, extending the width of the foreground plane, leads back towards an arched door and, above it, a painted religious shrine. Although clearly naturalistic, the work has a strong sense of patterned geometry. The picture was once attributed to Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, who did spend time in Subiaco in 1827. This attribution has been discounted largely on account of a forged Corot signature which has subsequently been removed. The sharply receding perspectival construction is also uncharacteristic of Corot's early Italian sketches. The work was probably painted by a French artist who formed part of the international colony of artists at Rome at mid-century. Research is ongoing to establish the painting's correct authorship.
