View up the Tiber from the Strada di Marmorata
Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli (Amersfoort 1653 – Rome 1736)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1685 - 1736
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
495 x 889 mm (19 ½ x 35 in)
Place of origin
Rome
Order this imageCollection
Mompesson House, Wiltshire (Accredited Museum)
On show at
Mompesson House, Wiltshire, South West, National Trust
NT 724330
Caption
This view is no longer possible to see as the Collegio di San Michele, built in the 18th century, and the construction of the Lungotevere, along the river Tiber, in the 19th century changed it. Here the old Imperial marble-working yard (Marmorata) is visible on the right bank, and the Porto di Ripa Grande, with its two descending ramps with the building of the Dogana (customs house) between them, on the left. Beyond the Romanesque campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the Palazzina Pamphilj in its walled garden is visible. In the distance is the hill of the Campidoglio, with the tall campanile of S. Maria in Aracoeli, the squatter Torre delle Milizie and the dome of SS. Luca e Martina to its right. Although the artist was born in Amersfoort, Holland and may have been familiar with the landscape artists Jan van der Heyden and Gerrit Berckheyde, from his early 20s he was living in Rome until his death. He was one of the major proponents of painting topographically accurate Italian views, called vedute.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, View up the Tiber from the Strada di Marmorata by Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli (Amersfoort 1653 – Rome 1736). This is an as yet unpublished version of Vanvitelli’s furthest view down the Tiber – a view since swept away by the building of the Collegio di San Michele in the 18th century, and by the construction of the Lungotevere in the 19th century. Its main features are the old Imperial marble-working yard on the right bank, and the Porto di Ripa Grande, with its two descending ramps, and the building of the Dogana between them on the left. Behind the Marmorata is the Romanesque campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Beyond the Dogana is the Palazzina Pamphilj and its garden. Closing the far distance is the hill of the Campidoglio, with the tall campanile of S. Maria in Aracoeli, the squatter Torre delle Milizie and the dome of SS. Luca e Martina to the right of it.
Provenance
Roger Clarke Bequest to the National Trust, 1988
Credit line
Roger Clarke bequest (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli (Amersfoort 1653 – Rome 1736), artist
References
Briganti 1996 Giulio Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, (ed. Laura Laureati & Ludovica Trezzani), Milan 1996, cf. pp.199-201, nos.190-193 & 119 Beddington, Boersma 2019: Charles Beddington, Albert Boersma, et al: Maestro van Wittel, Dutch Master of the Italian Cityscape, Bekking & Blitz Uitgevers, 2019., p. 72