Oil painting on canvas depicting a view with Ponte Nomentano in the foreground and Rome in the background on the right.

Contemporary golden wooden frame.

Signed lower right Jules Laurens (1825-1901)

Dimensions cm 47x73 Excellent state of conservation

LAURENS Jules Joseph Augustin: Born July 26, 1825 in Carpentras (Vaucluse). He died on May 5, 1901 in Saint-Didier (Vaucluse). Nineteenth century. French. Painter of portraits, landscapes, watercolorist, designer, engraver, illustrator. Orientalist tendency. Brother of the painter Jean Joseph Bonaventure Laurens, he received an artistic education from him before becoming a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier, then in Paris, in the studio of Paul Delaroche. Upon his arrival in Paris, after a stay in Fontainebleau, he immediately became what he would have been famous for in the art world. From 1846 to 1849, he was following a geographical and historical scientific mission to Turkey and Persia, which gave him the Orientalist reputation on his return. His relationship with Victor Hugo, in exile in Jersey, brought him further prestige. In fact, according to Janine Bailly-Herzberg: "His relationships have contributed to his fame as much as his works" · Exposed at the Paris Salon, mostly lithographs, obtaining a third-class lithography medal in 1853, a third-class of painting in 1857, another third class of lithograph in 1859, a second-class lithograph in 1861, and finally a medal in painting at the World Exposition in 1867. He became a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1868. Laurens left numerous works, made many portraits, especially musicians of his time, Persian notables, but also camel-drivers, soldiers and street vendors. From his trip to Persia, he returned with drawings, watercolors that allowed him to make oil compositions whose grandeur goes beyond the simple orientalist anecdote. We mention Elizabeth Deronne who defines her work: "A simple composition to which the masses will respond, a safe and clear design, the taste for details, a wide range of contrasts but without bumping ... harmony of light and shadow organized with sensitivity ". When he paints landscapes of the South or Ile-de-France, he shows a style close to that of the Barbizon painters. Finally, he wrote and illustrated the articles on the Middle East in publications such as "L'Illustration" and "Around the World".