Artwork
Hadrian's Lake, Tivoli
Hadrian's Lake, Tivoli is a drawing by Carole Robb. It dates from 2003 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
This work is one of fourteen drawings she did while traveling through Rome and the Veneto that year.
Carole Robb made this pencil drawing in 2003. It shows part of Hadrian’s Lake at Tivoli, where the emperor built a huge villa. This work is one of fourteen drawings she did while traveling through Rome and the Veneto that year.
It joins a group of old Grand Tour watercolors in the V&A’s collection. Like those 18th-century travel pictures, Robb’s drawing captures a famous spot with careful detail.
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Overview
Hadrian's Lake, Tivoli is a pencil drawing by Carole Robb, created in 2003 as part of a series of fourteen works documenting her travels through Rome, Tivoli, and the Veneto. This piece captures a detail of the lake at Hadrian’s Villa, a sprawling ancient Roman complex.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing focuses on a serene, naturalized area of Hadrian’s Lake, surrounded by dense, untamed vegetation, contrasting with the villa's formal water features. This depiction reflects the villa's design, inspired by sacred Egyptian gardens, blending natural and imperial elements.
Technique & Style
Executed in a naturalistic style, the drawing adheres to a tradition of open-air painting. Robb's vantage point from a rocky foreground and the rendering of lengthening cypress shadows on the water convey immediacy and observational precision.
History & Provenance
Part of a set (E.3719 to 3732-2004) acquired by the V&A, this work updates the museum's collection of Grand Tour watercolors from the 18th and early 19th centuries with a contemporary, figurative interpretation of Italian landscapes.
Context
Created during Robb's 2003 journey, the drawing is contemporaneous with her explorations of Rome and the Veneto, reflecting her engagement with historical sites through a figurative, non-abstract artistic lens.
Legacy
By joining the V&A's collection, 'Hadrian's Lake, Tivoli' contributes to a broader narrative of artistic responses to Italian landscapes, bridging historical Grand Tour artworks with contemporary practice.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carole Robb painted delicate watercolours of Italian cityscapes and canals in the early 2000s.
