Hubert Robert. Ruins and a Bridge

A landscape by the French artist Hubert Robert (1733–1808), who was nicknamed "Robert of the Ruins" for his love of ancient remains. His paintings were popular with the Russian nobility and with Empress Catherine II, and Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov commissioned works from Robert for his collection at Arkhangelskoye.

Robert was one of Yusupov's favourite artists. His manner was shaped to a large extent by the Italian master Giovanni Paolo Panini, whose paintings were also in the Yusupov collection. In 1802 Robert was elected an honorary free associate of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg.

The date of the painting has not been established. Oil on canvas.