Att. To Simon Denis (1755-1813) View Taken From The Villa Borghese In Rome

Attributed to Simon DENIS
(Antwerp 1755 - Naples 1813)
View taken from the Villa Borghese
Oil on paper mounted on canvas
H. 27,5cm ; L. 44cm
Remains of old Brussels framer's label on frame

Provenance : Former Denis Coekelberghs collection, stamped on the back of the stretcher

Originally trained by the Antwerp landscape and animal painter Antonissen, our young Flemish artist moved to Paris around 1775, where he produced relatively classical pastoral landscapes; he was supported by the supported by the art dealer Lebrun. In 1786, thanks to expatriated to Italy, settling first in Rome, where he lived untilwhere he lived until 1801/1803.

Rapidly, Simon Denis became very popular for his small atmospheric oil paintingsatmospheric oils on paper, painted in the open air with a very freefree technique, in the spirit of Valenciennes, whom he might havemet briefly in Paris. Michel Hilaire describes him as akey figure in the Roman artistic milieu: he frequented above allFrench painters, but also a few "northerners" such asVoogdou Verstappen, and worked for prestigious English customerssuch as Lord Bristol.

In 1803, he was accepted at the Académie de Saint-Luc in Rome, beforebefore moving to Naples for the rest of his life, where he wasappointed Court Painter in 1807, succeeding Hackert, where he receivedand received rents and titles of nobility.

Somewhat convinced by an execution in the last decade of theXVIII^ethe Belgian origin of the stretcher, the general mood of the paintingof the painting, the very light material used in the sky with aplay on the paper's reserve, lead us to suggest Simon Denis as a possible author.as a possible author.

The place represented is none other than the park of the Villa Borghese, a stone's throw fromRome. In the background, we see a series of hillsof hills that can be seen in several of Corot's worksrepresenting Claude's aqueduct.