Jardin des Monuments (A Mother Weeping in a Cemetery), Hubert Robert

Exhibition Label:
"Corpus," Apr-2012, Kris Ercums
French artist Hubert Robert painted many scenes of ancient architecture and ruins, popular subjects in the 18th century. His taste for romantically overgrown ruins began as a young man in Italy, when he studied Ancient Rome. In this painting, Robert depicts another place that likewise inspires memory and contemplation, a cemetery. Kneeling among weathered tombstones and monuments, a figure of a woman conveys a sense of mourning through her poignant appearance. Draped in blue, she appears lost in a grief-stricken moment of contemplation. The tall cypress trees, an element Robert incorporated from his time in Italy, add to the feeling of isolation. The theme of death held personal significance for the artist. The woman in the foreground may symbolize Robert’s wife mourning the deaths of their children, all four of whom died at a young age.

Archive Label 1999:
Like Bellotto, whose Reminiscences of Padua hangs nearby, Hubert Robert painted many scenes of ancient architecture and ruins, popular subjects in the eighteenth century. In this painting, Robert depicts another place that likewise inspires memory and contemplation, a cemetery. The theme of death held personal significance for the artist. The woman kneeling before a grave in the foreground may symbolize Robert's wife mourning the deaths of their children, all four of whom died at a young age.