Oil on canvas (lined), 1866, signed and inscribed at lower left "J. Ropes / Rome / 1866," verso inscribed "Lake Albano. / Painted in Rome / by J. Ropes. / 1866," presented in a period gilt composition frame.

Frame dimensions 37 x 56 1/4 in.

Private Collection, Wilmington, North Carolina

Born into a prominent Salem, Massachusetts family, Joseph Ropes did not become an artist until he was in his mid-thirties. Ropes studied at the National Academy of Design in the 1840s. After further study with John R. Smith in New York, Ropes settled in Hartford, CT, where he maintained a studio from 1851 and 1865. His drawings, prints and paintings convey a vivid sense of the appearance of the small but bustling city.

Ropes was also active as a teacher and was the author of several artist’s manuals, published during his residence in Hartford. The Connecticut Historical Society has four drawings by Ropes, and their Graphics Collection includes at least one lithograph drawn on the stone by him and published by E. C. Kellogg. Additional paintings by Ropes are in the Society’s museum collection.

Ropes worked as a miniaturist, a landscapist, and a teacher of art. Beginning in New York City, he then settled in Hartford, Connecticut for fourteen years, travelled abroad for eleven years (including Italy where this piece was painted), and returning in 1876 to Philadelphia, and finally back to New York City for his final years.

Biography courtesy of White Mountain Art & Artists

Faint impression of stretcher; scattered areas of stress crackle; verso wrapped in clear plastic; no visible signs of restoration visible under UV light.