Orator in Prison

Hubert Robert, The Orator in Prison (c. 1765) 

Maxims of Goethe 77

We all live on the past, and through the past are destroyed. 

IMAGE: Hubert Robert, Roman Ruins (c. 1760) 

As the Ruin Falls

"As the Ruin Falls" 

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) 

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you. 
I never had a selfless thought since I was born. 
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through: 
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn. 

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek, 
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin: 
I talk of love—a scholar's parrot may talk Greek— 
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin. 

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making 
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back 
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking. 

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains 
You give me are more precious than all other gains. 

IMAGE: Hubert Robert, Ruined Bridge with Figures Crossing (1767) 

The Finding of the Laocoon

Hubert Robert, The Finding of the Laocoon (1773)

 

The Old Temple

Hubert Robert, The Old Temple (1788)

The Colosseum in Rome

Hubert Robert, The Colosseum in Rome (c. 1780)

Ruins with an Obelisk

Hubert Robert, Ruins with an Obelisk in the Distance (1775) 

Ruins of a Roman Bath

Hubert Robert, Ruins of a Roman Bath with Washerwomen (c. 1766) 

Ruins of a Doric Temple

Hubert Robert, Ruins of a Doric Temple (1783)

A Banquet in the Ruins of a Temple

Hubert Robert, A Banquet in the Ruins of a Temple (1795)

Capriccio of Classical Ruins

 

Hubert Robert, Capriccio of Classical Ruins with Boats (c. 1760)

The Ruin

Hubert Robert, The Ruin (1789)

 

Arches in Ruins

 

Hubert Robert, Arches in Ruins (c. 1760)

Aqueduct in Ruins

Hubert Robert, Aqueduct in Ruins (c. 1760)

 

Washerwomen in the Ruins of the Colosseum

Hubert Robert, Washerwomen in the Ruins of the Colosseum (c. 1760)

 

A Hermit Praying

Hubert Robert, A Hermit Praying in the Ruins of a Roman Temple (c. 1760)

Marcus Aurelius in the Ruins

Four capriccio paintings featuring the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, by Hubert Robert (1733-1808)

A Roman Capriccio with Washerwomen by the Statue of Marcus Aurelius (c. 1780)

Antique Capriccio with the Statue of Marcus Aurelius (1784)

Imaginary View of Rome with Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, The Column of Trajan, and a Temple (1786)

Landscape with the Ruins of the Round Temple, with a Statue of Venus, and a Monument to Marcus Aurelius (1789)