Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome

c. 1830–32

Corot transformed this relatively traditional view along Rome’s Tiber River into an exploration of volume and light. The row of houses on the left provides a counterpoint to the monumental structure on the right—the Castel Sant'Angelo, originally built as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The arches of the bridge mimic the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Bold patches of unblended paint give the scene a freshness and spontaneity. The artist sketched these landmarks during an extended stay in Rome, but probably completed this painting in his Paris studio several years later.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	13 1/2 x 18 in. (34.3 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 20 x 24 5/8 x 1 7/8 in. (50.8 x 62.5 x 4.8 cm)
Object Number	1955.555
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, c. 1830–32, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.555

Select Bibliography

Bonfait, Olivier. Maestà di Roma. D'Ingres à Degas, Rome et les artistes français. Academie de France a Rome, Italy, March 5-June 29, 2003; Dahesh Museum of Art, September 3-November 2, 2003. Academie de France a Rome. 2003. Conforti, Michael, et al. The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven: distributed by Yale University Press, 2006. Paris: Ecole des Beaux-Arts.. Exposition de l'Oeuvre de Corot.. 1875.. New York: M. Knoedler & Co.. Loan Exhibition of Figure and Landscape Paintings by J. B. C. Corot.. Nov. 12-Dec. 1, 1934.. New York: Century Club.. Exhibition of French Masterpieces of the 19th Century.. Jan. 11-Feb. 10, 1936.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956. Wildenstein & Company. An Exhibition of Treasures from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Paintings, drawings & rare silver, for the benefit of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, inc. (CRIA). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Wildenstein & Company, 1967. Wissman, Fronia E. J.-B.-C. Corot: View of Volterra. Focus 3. Exhibition catalogue. San Diego: Putnam Foundation, 1988. Cass, David B. and Michael M. Floss. Alexandre Gabriel Decamps, 1803-1860. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Mount Holyoke College Art Museum.. Sites and Sensibilities: View of Rome 1500-1992. Sept. 1-Nov. 8, 1992.. 1992.. Mainardi, Particia. The Persistence of Classicism. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1995. Réunion des Musées Nationaux.. Corot: 1796-1875. Feb. 27-May 27, 1996; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, June 21-Sept. 22, 1996; Metropolitan Museum, New York, Oct. 29, 1996-Jan. 19, 1997 (Cat. by Gary Tinterow and Vincent Pomarede).. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.. 1996.. Roger-Milès, L. Album Classique de Chefs-d'oeuvre de Corot. Paris: Braun, 1895. Bazin, Germain. Corot. Collection Prométhée. Paris: Editions Pierre Tisné, 1942. Bazin, Germain. Corot. 2nd ed. Paris, 1951. C., R. F. "Williamstown: Nuove opere alla Galleria Clark." Emporium 129, no. 770 (February 1959): 76-81. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Brooks, John H. Highlights: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1981. . "Exposition de l'oeuvre de Corot." No. 45 in Exhibitions of Barbizon and Landscape Art.. New York: Garland.. 1981.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. John Varriano.. Rome: A Literary Companion.. London: John Murray.. 1991.. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Gérard de Wallens.. Corot.. Paris: Editions du Chêne.. 1996.. Brooke, David S. "The Clarks as Collectors". The Magazine Antiques vol. 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 500503. Robaut, Alfred. L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré. Paris: Leonce Laget, 1905. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.

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EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY

Provenance

Paul Tesse, Paris (by 1875–76, his sale, Drouot, Paris, 11 Mar. 1876, no. 22, as Rome); Ernest May, Paris (until 1890, his sale, Georges Petit, Paris, 4 June 1890, no. 18, ill., sold to Roux); Antony Roux, Paris (1890–1914, his sale, Georges Petit, Paris, 19 May 1914, no. 4, ill., sold to Knoedler, as agent for Robert S. Clark, on behalf of Edward S. Clark); Edward Severin Clark (1914–d. 1933, by descent to Stephen C. Clark); Stephen Carlton Clark (1933–46, sold to Durand-Ruel, 1946); [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Robert S. Clark, 28 June 1946]; Robert Sterling Clark (1946–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.