Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 69. François-Marius Granet Aix-en-Provence 1775 – 1849 Aix-en-Provence View of the Church of San Giorgio in Velabro and the Arch of Janus, Rome Here, Granet once again chooses an unusual angle for depicting this celebrated antique site (see cat. 65). The Arch of Janus, seen immersed in a midday shadow, occupies almost the entire right side of the painting and creates a sharp contrast with the brightly-lit left side of the composition. Our eye is guided along the illuminated path to the distinctive twelfth-century bell tower of the Church of San Giorgio in Velabro, pausing every now and then on details of glimmering foliage and weathered brickwork. The artist’s skill is particularly evident in his rendering of the relief of the arch, visible through the dark yet transparent shadow. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built on the spot where the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus.
Here, Granet once again chooses an unusual angle for depicting this celebrated antique site (see cat. 65). The Arch of Janus, seen immersed in a midday shadow, occupies almost the entire right side of the painting and creates a sharp contrast with the brightly-lit left side of the composition. Our eye is guided along the illuminated path to the distinctive twelfth-century bell tower of the Church of San Giorgio in Velabro, pausing every now and then on details of glimmering foliage and weathered brickwork. The artist’s skill is particularly evident in his rendering of the relief of the arch, visible through the dark yet transparent shadow. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built on the spot where the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus.