The Temple of the Sybil at Tivoli
Object type | Drawing |
Genre | Ruins |
Date | 1593 |
Dimensions | 21.9 x 18.3 cm |
Support | Paper |
Medium | Pen and bistre |
Signature | "Templum de Sibilla Tiburtina 6 iuli 1593" |
Signature location | lower center |
Further inscription | Temple….June 6, 1593… |
Our attribution | Jan Brueghel the Elder |
Other authorities | Bailey/Walker cat. #PARI.LC.1 |
Location | Paris, France |
Collection | Fondation Custodia (Collection Frits Lugt) |
Accession numbers | 6599 |
Tags | Ruins, Temple, Landscape |
According to Louisa Wood Ruby, this is the first dated Roman drawing by Jan not dependent on earlier models. Like the View of the Castel dell'Ovo, the motif of the Sybil Temple appears in numerous paintings by Brueghel. However, as Ruby notes, Jan did not use his own drawing as a model. Instead he was using a study by Paul Bril (Louvre). Bril's drawing includes the arched structure that supports the temple and the small waterfall, while the present drawing by Jan is a close-up of the temple with none of the substructure. In Jan's paintings with the Temple is it NOT shown close-up, but from a distance and with the larger surroundings. Ruby also notes that in the 1595 Rest on the Flight into Egypt with Tivoli Temple (Germany) Jan reproduced Bril’s full Louvre drawing very exactly.