Pyramid of Cestius, Rome

Pyramid of Cestius, Rome from 1759, now in the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, depicts the ancient Egyptian-style funerary monument that stands beside the Protestant Cemetery near the Porta San Paolo. The pyramid was built by the praetor Gaius Cestius around 12 BCE, incorporating the Egyptian form that briefly became fashionable among Roman aristocrats following Caesar's conquest of Egypt. It was a favorite subject for artists in Rome because its exotic form contrasted dramatically with the surrounding classical and medieval architecture, and because it stood near the Via Ostiensis where Grand Tour visitors frequently passed. Robert was in his first years in Rome when he painted this early panel, absorbing the city's extraordinary density of historical layers. His oil technique at this stage was still developing: the confident atmospheric warmth of his mature work is present in embryonic form, with the pyramid's distinctive triangular silhouette rendered against a blue Roman sky. The Sheffield gallery holds this early Robert as evidence of his formation during the Roman decade that established the foundation for his entire subsequent career.

The painting renders the distinctive pyramid form with Robert's characteristic attention to texture and atmosphere, setting it within a broader Roman landscape.