Loggia, Villa Giulia, Rome

John Singer Sargent

ca. 1907 · Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper · The American Wing

In 1907, at the height of his career as a portrait painter, Sargent declared that he would no longer paint portraits on commission. He also traveled more frequently and took long annual summer holidays, often to Italy, where he reveled in painting the Mediterranean sunlight. Around this time, he painted several architectural studies at the Villa Giulia, located on the grounds of the Borghese Gardens in northern Rome. The villa, which today houses a museum of antiquities, was built in the 1550s for Pope Julius III. In this watercolor Sargent depicts a detail of the three-arched loggia of the garden court from below. He suggests the presence—and absence—of light on the stone with the contrasting warm and cool tones of his palette.

Artist

John Singer Sargent

Date

ca. 1907

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950