An Italian Study - The Arch of Constantine and the Meta Sudans, Rome 1876

A finely observed late 19th-century oil sketch depicting the Arch of Constantine in Rome, painted in 1876. The great triumphal arch rises in dark silhouette against a luminous sky, while a solitary cloaked figure crosses the dusty road in the foreground and the slopes of the Palatine Hill ascend beyond. To the right of the arch the artist has also captured the remains of the Meta Sudans, the monumental Roman fountain that once stood beside the Colosseum.

Executed with confident, expressive brushwork, the painting retains the immediacy of a plein-air study, the type of work produced by artists working directly from the ancient ruins during the final decades of the Grand Tour. The quick handling of the trees and sky, contrasted with the architectural mass of the arch, gives the composition a striking atmospheric presence.

Inscribed to the reverse “1876 Roma” and attributed to George Sherwood Hunter (1846–1919), a Scottish painter known for his Italian subjects and architectural views.

Oil on board.

A particularly evocative small study capturing the enduring romance of the Roman Forum and its surrounding monuments.