Camuccini chose to sketch the old town of Ariccia in Italy from a hillside covered in scrub looking up a dusty track to the backs of humble stone buildings. Plaster is peeling, vines climb the walls and grass sprouts from rooftops. On the left the hillside falls away abruptly into forest and thick undergrowth. Camuccini lavishes attention on the textures of the walls and the dry foliage. At the upper right, rising above the tumble-down roofs, is the hemispherical dome and belfry of the church designed by the architect Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680), which glimmers in the sunlight.
The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery, © Private collection 2000. Used by permission
1819 - 1904
Medium and support
Oil on paper laid on a plastic support
24.2 x 33.4 cm
The Gere Collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery
Location in Gallery