Painting Detail
Road to Castel GandolfoArtist: Andre Derain
Medium: Painting, Oil on canvas, 62.5x50.8 cm
Date: c. 1921
Genre: Landscape
Source: Formerly in the collection of Otto Krebs, Holzdorf
In 1921, André Derain stayed in Castel Gandolfo, a picturesque little town and the Pope's summer residence. Archaeologists discovered that it was the site of the legendary Alba Longa, the oldest city in ancient Latium razed in 655 B.C. When Derain found himself on the ancient road to Castel Gandolfo, lined by rocks and great age-old trees, he could not help feeling at one with history. In this landscape he conveyed the severe monumentality that he believed was the essence of Roman art. A lone female figure walking down the road makes us aware of how small one person is in the face of the vast forces of History and Nature.