FRENCH SCHOOL from the beginning of the 19th century

“La Tour Magne à Nîmes”

Ink wash and watercolor highlights on paper,
Unsigned,
ca 1820,

Exceptional drawing from the beginning of the 19th century which represents an animated view of the Tour Magne in Nîmes .
We can observe in the foreground, the return of the peasants from the fields with the full cart and in the background, the famous Nîmes monument: The Magne Tower.
Similar drawings are kept at the Musée d'Orsay, at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), and at the Musée des Beaux-arts in Reims.

The Tour Magne is a Gallo-Roman monument located on Mont Cavalier in Nîmes (Gard). It is the only vestige of the Roman walls of Nîmes which originally included 80 towers of this type. Both a prestigious building and a strategic element, it marked the presence of the sanctuary, the source of Nîmes, and protected the oppidum. It is also the most beautiful viewpoint over the city and its surroundings. Its name Turris Magna (Great Tower) appears as early as the 12th century, but its origin is much older.

Nb: Original passe-partout with slight insolation and two old restorations in the lower and upper right corner.

Dimensions: 30.5 x 49 cm of the drawing and 61 x 74 cm with a Louis XVI style wooden frame formerly repatinated in black.

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