Dawn in an Ancient Land
ClassificationsDRAWINGS
Date1871
Mediumwatercolor on wove paper
Dimensions15 1/8 × 27 3/4 in. (38.4 × 70.5 cm.)
DescriptionIn this watercolor, Blunden depicts a landscape on the outskirts of Rome. On the left side is the Aqua Claudia, an ancient Roman aqueduct that was begun by Emperor Caligula.
SignedSignature; Date Anna Blunden /1871
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Label TextFrom 1867 to 1872, Blunden had a studio in Rome, where she created popular watercolors of the surrounding environs. Here, she showcases the ruins of the Aqua Claudia, the ancient aqueduct that once enabled Rome to function as the capital of a vast empire. By the nineteenth century, the aqueduct was seen as a picturesque monument to that civilization’s downfall. Bathed in a hazy white light, Blunden’s composition emphasizes the massive scale of the aqueduct by including tiny figures in the landscape. The empty field between them and the aqueduct, punctuated by rocky crevasses, emphasizes the romantic notion of the contrast between ancient history and modern life.
Object number87.85
