Hubert Robert
French, 1733-1808
The Nest Robber
INV-2139
Hubert Robert
French, 1733-18081780s
The Nest Robber
Hubert Robert French, 1733-1808 →drawings (visual works)prints and drawing
Date
1780s
Medium
Red chalk, with touches of orange chalk, with touches of pen and brown ink, on cream laid paper, incised with a compass, laid down on blue wove board
Dimensions
Primary support: 36.3 × 28.7 cm (14 5/16 × 11 5/16 in.); Secondary support: 44.5 × 37 cm (17 9/16 × 14 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
Hubert Robert began drawing red chalk landscapes as a student in Italy and continued to do so throughout his life, drawing from nature and from his imagination. This charming drawing from his mature career offers a Rococo amorous theme favored by Robert’s predecessors Antoine Watteau and François Boucher—that of bird-catching. The inscription on the rock is from Virgil and translates to “So you not for yourselves build nests, O birds,” a call to be unselfish with one’s creations.
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