The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Ruins of an Ancient City
c. 1810–20
(British, 1789–1854)
Framed: 118.5 x 142 x 8 cm (46 5/8 x 55 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 95.6 x 118.6 cm (37 5/8 x 46 11/16 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
The painting depicts an imagined scene of a ruined ancient city bathed in the nostalgic glow of twilight. The artist's detailed, almost archeological, interest in these Greek or Roman buildings is characteristic of neoclassicism, although the composition—which plunges suddenly from the foreground into a deep valley—and dramatic lighting are typical of Romantic painting.- William Ropner, 1864-1947 (West Hartlepool, England), by 1898, when it was withdrawn from a Christie's sale.Privat collection (sold, Christie's, London, 24 November 1978, lot 160) as An Extensive Classical Landscape with a Ruined City, ca. 1812-15, for £6,000 to Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox.Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.
- Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 420-422, Vol. II, no. 145
- Artlens Exhibition 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24, 2017-May 29, 2019).The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
- {{cite web|title=Ruins of an Ancient City|url=false|author=John Martin|year=c. 1810–20|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.13