Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 63. Louis Dupré Versailles 1789 – 1837 Paris View of Santa Trinità dei Monti in Rome, c. 1817 This view of the convent and church of Trinità dei Monti was painted from the oft-repeated vantage point of the Villa Medici, seat of the French Academy in Rome since 1803. Though Dupré himself was not a pensionnaire (he had received a grant from Jérôme Bonaparte for a journey to Rome and was there in 1812-19, and again at times between 1822-30), the artist was sufficiently immersed in the circle of expatriate French painters to have access to their lodgings. While certainly painted before the motif, it would be somewhat disingenuous to describe this work as a sketch. By positioning himself in one of the rooms or on the terrace of the Villa, Dupré could take his time and was sheltered from the inconveniences of working out-ofdoors. Painted with remarkable clarity, a meticulous attention to detail permeates the picture and extends through to the architectural elements in the far distance. The two nuns taking a summer stroll in the garden of the convent add a sense of scale to the composition.
This view of the convent and church of Trinità dei Monti was painted from the oft-repeated vantage point of the Villa Medici, seat of the French Academy in Rome since 1803. Though Dupré himself was not a pensionnaire (he had received a grant from Jérôme Bonaparte for a journey to Rome and was there in 1812-19, and again at times between 1822-30), the artist was sufficiently immersed in the circle of expatriate French painters to have access to their lodgings. While certainly painted before the motif, it would be somewhat disingenuous to describe this work as a sketch. By positioning himself in one of the rooms or on the terrace of the Villa, Dupré could take his time and was sheltered from the inconveniences of working out-ofdoors. Painted with remarkable clarity, a meticulous attention to detail permeates the picture and extends through to the architectural elements in the far distance. The two nuns taking a summer stroll in the garden of the convent add a sense of scale to the composition.