Italy - Rome; F. Villain / J. Isabey - Fontaine du Jardin Borghese / Le Temple d'Esculape à la Villa Borghèse - 1821-1850

Lot of 2 views of the famous Villa Borghese:

1) Fountain of Jardin Borghese
Printed by F(rançois) Villain
May 1822 / J. Isabey

A beautiful glimpse of the Borghese Garden, enlivened by human activity and the scenic jets of water from the Sea Horse Fountain.

Lithograph on thick, unlaid and unwatermarked paper, signed on the plate, blank verso, wide margins, a splendid impression enhanced by the evocative modern pastel and watercolour colouring.
Size: 22x23 cm the print mirror, 25.5x39 cm the sheet

2) Le Temple d'Esculape à la Villa Borghèse
April 1822 / J. Isabey
Printed by F(rançois) Villain

The famous late eighteenth-century Ionic temple dedicated to the god of medicine Asclepius dominates the scene from its slightly elevated position in the centre of the pond.

Lithograph on thick, unlaid and unwatermarked paper, signed on the plate, blank verso, wide margins, two modest, repaired tears (one, very small, in the right corner, and one in the left margin), a splendid impression enhanced by the evocative modern pastel and watercolour colouring.
Size: 21.5x22.5 cm the print surface, 25x39 cm the sheet

Taken from: Voyage en Italie, Paris 1823

Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855), the son of a grocer from Nancy, was a student of Jacques Louis David in Paris. He became a painter, ceramist, miniaturist, engraver, and landscape artist, highly renowned at the time, so much so that he was chosen by Napoleon Bonaparte as the official artist of his court.