The Temple of the Sibyl and the Campagna

This is the second of two Tivoli scenes painted for Joseph Henry. They are Wilson’s earliest-known paintings of actual Italian scenery. The locations of the two landscapes are on either side of the town of Tivoli: the Temple of the Sibyl to the east and the so-called Villa of Maecenas to the west. The present view is toward the northeast and includes the town’s most famous ruin, sometimes called the “Temple of the Tiburtine Sibyl,” and adjacent church. Beyond lies a stretch of the Roman Campagna. An artist and his assistant carry away an easel and large canvas at the end of the day’s work. The distant landscape is a rare example by Wilson of background details scratched in through wet paint, indicating that at least part of this picture may have been executed en plein air.