Torre Di Schiavi, Roman Campagna
Artist
Elihu Vedder
(American, 1836-1923; active Italy after 1856)
Date1868
MediumOil on wood
DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 x 5 1/4in. (39.4 x 13.3cm)
Framed: 21 x 10 1/2 x 1in. (53.3 x 26.7 x 2.5cm)
Framed: 21 x 10 1/2 x 1in. (53.3 x 26.7 x 2.5cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineGift of Robert Palmiter
Terms
Object number62.36
Description On View
On viewCollections
CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.
Label TextThe Torre dei Schiavi, which in translation is misleadingly called the “Tower of Slaves,” is an ancient ruin outside Rome. The circular, shallow-domed building shown at the top of this painting originally served as a bath for a Roman imperial villa. In the nineteenth century the building attracted the attention of numerous artists who roamed the Italian countryside in search of picturesque ruins that were imbued with powerful historical associations.
Vedder wrote on the back of this painting that the Torre dei Schiavi is “a good subject. Hotchkiss used to go out there frequently / twas [sic] here he found a niche in this columbarium which had not been / discovered a beautiful glass vase and sold it for a good sum / of money which came in well in those days / never finished because I had to paint figures. Hotchkiss / made some good things of this Torre dei Schiavi / Vedder.” Both Vedder and the New York landscape painter Thomas Hotchkiss (1834-1869) were part of the expatriate community of American artists living in Rome. The “columbarium” that Vedder mentioned in this inscription, where cinerary urns are stored, is depicted in the foreground.
Lindsay Waterbury
Hamilton College Intern, 2009
