Lines and Colors art blog

Eye Candy for Today: Hubert Robert’s Hermit

A Hermit Praying in the Ruins of a Roman Temple, Hubert Robert
A Hermit Praying in the Ruins of a Roman Temple, Hubert Robert.

On Google Art Project, click in lower right of image for zoom controls.

Original is in the Getty Museum. On the museum’s site they suggest Robert may have taken inspiration for the monumental scale of the temple from the prints of his contemporary Giovanni Battista Piranesi.


Comments

4 responses to “Eye Candy for Today: Hubert Robert’s Hermit”

  1. Mark P Avatar

    what wonderful greens, tells a story well and is a magical if whimsical scene…I find myself desirous of this hermit’s life…and mode of housing.

    again, what lovely bright greens used. you have a fine eye thanks for sharing the pics/link.

    1. Thanks, Mark. I love how painterly it is when viewed up close, as Google Art Project permits with their high res images.

  2. James Morse Avatar
    James Morse

    I was just at the Getty and saw this. If I remember correctly, one of the terms describing it was “comical”.

    I do not agree. To me, it is a tribute to the humble power of Christianity (Catholic in this case) compared to the ruins of empires built by man. The women represent the torments, ridicule, and disrespect of the secular society. The woman with the branch is trying to disrupt the hermit’s praying; the 3 women (a mob) are trying to steal flowers meant to honor the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus.

    Don’t forget that the anti-Catholics of the French Revolution tried to kill Robert for his views.

    1. Thanks, James. I wasn’t aware of backstory for the painting, I just thought it beautifully painted.