Capriccio of Classical Ruins with Pyramid

Agnew Gallery, London; Ryan; Christie’s, London, Important Pictures by Old Masters, July 2, 1965, lot 124 (sold to Ryan) listed as "The Property of a Lady of Title"

• Rogers, Millard F., Jr. "Paintings at the Elvehjem Art Center, University of Wisconsin." The Magazine Antiques. Vol. CVIII, No. 6, December (1975). pp. 1151-1154, pl. 4
• "SchoolsMusuemsART (SMART) Project." Madison, WI: Madison Metropolitan School District, 2002.
• Committee on Institutional Cooperation. "Paintings from Midwestern University Collections: Seventeenth-Twentieth Centuries." Evanston, Ill.: Committee on Institutional Cooperation, 1973. no. 56-57
• Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Handbook of the Collection." Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, 1990. no. 65

• Paintings from Midwestern University Collections: 17th-20th Centuries: Committee on Institutional Cooperation and Member Universities, 10/3/1973–4/27/1975
• Recent Acquisitions: Elvehjem Art Center, 6/11/1971–8/29/1971

This large painting depicts a landscape featuring the architectural ruins of an ancient temple among which several people gather to rest and converse. The scale of the ruins dwarfs the people, emphasizing their antiquity and grandeur. In the left foreground, a row of large columns topped with ornate pattern of leaves, supports a crumbling entablature. An indecipherable inscription is visible on the frieze. In the center of the composition stands an ornate archway embellished with carvings of two winged figures. Partially obscured by the archway is a steep pyramidal structure prominently featured in the background. Large, fallen stones litter the ground beneath the massive structures. The ruins themselves are weathered and overgrown with trees and vines, highlighting their age and abandonment. To the right, a fountain shaped like a Sphinx rests on a plinth next to a circular stone basin, with a stream of water arcing from the Sphinx’s mouth into the basin. A gathering of figures occupies the foreground, including soldiers, peasants, and nobles dressed in 18th-century attire. They are clustered near a central large sarcophagus or altar adorned with figures and a garland wreath in relief. A figure in a brown dress and white headscarf leans over a large stone lying on the ground and appears to be in conversation with a figure wearing tall black boots and a red cape who reclines against the same stone. Other figures are scattered throughout the ruins, depicted in various casual positions, both standing and seated. The ruins are intermingled with flourishing plant life and trees with green leaves. The artist employs a muted color palette dominated by earthy browns and greens. Set at dusk, long shadows cast from the figures and ruins under a blue sky with white and grey clouds.

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