Art Institute of Chicago
The Nest Robber
Hubert Robert
- 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
- Culture
- France
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
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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