Hubert Robert: Demolition of the Château of Meudon
Hubert Robert (1733-1808) was truly an 18th century painter, best known for his realistic paintings of ruined buildings. This, one of his last paintings, depicts a very famous building, the Château of Meudon, being demolished. The château, once the home of the French Dauphin, fell into disrepair in the later 1700s and was ransacked during the French Revolution. Rather than depicting an actual incident, this canvas seems to portray allegorically, in an almost elegiac way, the destruction of old France to make way for the new order. The Getty Museum has a short video commentary on this painting that is worth watching.
Some examples of Robert's 18th century works are below.
Ancient Ruins Used as Public Baths (1798)
Bathing Pool (ca. 1753)
Figures amongst Ruins inspired by the Temple of Saturn (1761)
Interior of the Temple of Diana at Nîmes (1783)
Pont du Gard (1786)
Ruins of a Doric Temple
View of Ripetta (1766)
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