Read the visual description
The image shows an ancient ruin with arches and crumbling stonework surrounded by overgrown vegetation. The horizon is slightly elevated, emphasizing the towering remnants of the architecture. Expressive brushstrokes and textures are notable, especially in the vines and leaves on the stone. The color palette is subdued, mainly earthy tones and black, creating contrast and suggesting openings into the distance, enhancing the old, abandoned feel of the ruins.
National Gallery of Art · Drawing
Arches of the Larger Baths at Hadrian's Villa
Charles Michel-Ange Challe
- Date
- c. 1748
- Medium
- black chalk and white chalk with stumping on light brown laid paper, with later framing line in brown ink
- Dimensions
- overall: 30.5 x 47.5 cm (12 x 18 11/16 in.)
- Classification
- Drawing
- Accession number
- 1999.19.2
- Credit line
- Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
- Time span
- 1726 to 1750
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- French
- exterior
- architecture
- Ruins
- Rococo
- Rome
Provenance
Private collection, Paris; (Galerie Cailleux, Paris) (sale, Christie's, New York, 28 January 1999, no. 126); (David Tunick, Inc., New York); purchased 1999 by NGA.
Inscription
lower left in pen and brown ink: MA Challe
Watermarks
posthorn (similar to Heawood 2621)
NGA object ID 109727. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.