Colosseum Viewed from the Palatine

Jean–Achille Benouville was trained in Paris but also spent time working in Italy. He is best known for his Italian pictures, with their great sensitivity to southern light and atmosphere. This painting was executed in Rome the year before Benouville won the Prix de Rome for historical landscapes. It displays a mastery of subtle lighting effects and an ability to mix close observation of nature with general poetry of mood. The inclusion of three different religious orders together with an eastern holy man adds a romantic note touching on cross-cultural, timeless unity.