St Peter's, Rome

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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St Peter's, Rome

attributed to Sir Charles Lock Eastlake
brown wash and pencil, 1825
7 1/4 in. x 9 1/2 in. (185 mm x 240 mm)
Purchased, 1955
Primary Collection
NPG 3944(2)

On display in Room 17 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery

Artistback to top

  • Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865), Painter; President of the Royal Academy and Director of the National Gallery; Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits, Sitter in 15 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Attributed to the painter Charles Eastlake, who arrived in Italy in 1816, this view of Rome was taken from the terrace of the Pincio in front of the Villa Medici, which housed the French Academy in Rome. The most prominent sights are St Peter's basilica and to the left, the ancient Castel Saint'Angelo.
With its blend of ancient, Renaissance and modern elements, Eastlake's drawing conveys the allure of Rome for travellers. Yet the scene is interpreted in terms of the pictorial convention of the 'Picturesque', and with some buildings repositioned and others erased entirely, the view becomes a mixture of the real and the romanticised.

Placesback to top

  • Place portrayed: Italy (St Peter's, Rome)

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1825back to top

Current affairs

Strikes, contract breaking and worker intimidation prompt the passing of a new Anti-Trade Union Combination Act to the dismay of economist John McCulloch, MP Joseph Hume and radical Francis Place who had worked for the repeal of the previous year.
Catholic Relief Bill is rejected by the House of Lords.

Art and science

Construction of Thames Tunnel begins under the direction of Marc Isambard Brunel.
Stockton to Darlington Railway, the world's first passenger system, opens.
William Hazlitt publishes The Spirit of the Age; twenty-five pen-portraits of his contemporaries in the world of literature, philosophy and politics.

International

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premieres in London.
John Quincy Adams is elected President of the United States.

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