Skip Navigation

Tivoli

Jervis McEntee

American Art

McEentee made this oil sketch of the Arch of Nero while hiking through Tivoli, near Rome, with his fellow artist Sanford Gifford (whose sketchbook from this excursion can be seen in the case below, acc. no. 17.141). They were following in the footsteps of other American painters, including Thomas Cole (1801–1848), who had sought inspiration from the ancient ruins dotting the Italian countryside. McEentee’s loose brushwork and scratch marks—he dragged an implement, probably the butt end of his paintbrush, through the paint to create wagon-wheel tracks in the road—give his sketch a sense of on-the-spot immediacy.
MEDIUM Oil on paper
DATES 1868
DIMENSIONS 7 15/16 x 12 15/16 in. (20.2 x 32.9 cm)
INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed lower right: "Tivoli / Oct. 13. 1868 / JWE"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 79.18
CREDIT LINE Dick S. Ramsay Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.