The Colonnade of St. Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave

Robert's The Colonnade of St. Peter's, Rome, during the Conclave (c. 1769) at the Cleveland Museum depicts Bernini's famous curved colonnade at the moment of a papal election, when the College of Cardinals was locked in the Vatican to vote. The conclave — sealed from the outside world until white smoke announced an election — created a temporary world of heightened ceremonial activity within one of the world's greatest architectural spaces. Robert's combination of the colonnade's monumental architecture with the human activity of the conclave gives the work a balance between the permanent and the contingent that was characteristic of his best decorative work. The painting's documentary value — recording a specific ceremonial event in a recognizable architectural setting — grounds his characteristic architectural fantasy in historical reality.

Robert renders Bernini's massive Doric columns with architectural precision while populating the space with animated crowds painted in fluid, quick strokes. The dramatic perspective of the curving colonnade creates a powerful sense of spatial depth, and the warm Roman light is captured in golden tones.