Panoramic View of Tivoli with a Group of Peasants in Foreground
Inscribed, signed, and dated by the artist, in black chalk at lower left, Tivoli, and at lower right, Edward Lear del. / 1839
Thaw Collection
This view of Tivoli is a fine example of Lear's early style of draftsmanship. Executed in 1839, two years after Lear arrived in Rome, the Panoramic View of Tivoli was made in connection with the first of the artist's seven travel books, Views in Rome and Its Environs, published in London in 1841. Although not used for any of the lithographs in the book, this sheet was included in a portfolio of extra drawings accompanying Lord Stanley of Alderly's copy, ordered on subscription. The view seems to be from the southeast, looking west toward the Villa d'Este, which is silhouetted against the hills in the right background. Below, on the lower ground, is the famous so-called Villa of Maecenas, now thought to be the Temple of Hercules Victor.