Borghese Gardens, Rome, Antique Steel Engraving after G.G. Kilburne, circa 1878

About this sheet

A small open-air concert on a garden terrace. A man in a broad hat decorated with a feather sits on a carved stone bench, holding the bag of a set of pipes while a small boy at his side blows into the chanter. A young woman in regional costume, with a white headcloth, earrings, a full-sleeved blouse and an embroidered apron, stands facing them with a distaff and spindle in her hands, listening. Behind them rises a tall pedestal carved with an eagle and topped by a draped statue; a stone balustrade runs across the middle ground, and beyond it umbrella pines and distant hills fade into a bright sky. Dappled sun falls across the gravel and the weathered stone.

The lettering below reads "In the Borghese Gardens", the great park of the Villa Borghese in Rome, where the villa's sculpture-lined terraces were a favorite subject for painters of Italian genre scenes. The painter is credited as G.G. Kilburne at lower left (George Goodwin Kilburne, an English painter of genre subjects) and the engraver as F. Joubert at lower right. The imprint Cassell, Petter and Galpin, the London publisher, is lettered beneath the title.

This is a steel engraving, worked in fine line and stipple. The engraver builds the different textures with remarkable control: the rough lichen on the bench, the smooth marble of the statue, the crisp folds of the woman's apron and the soft foliage of the pines. The title is engraved in a flowing copperplate script.

Its musicians and Italian costume make it a cheerful piece for a music room, a dining room or a collection of Grand Tour views, set off by a warm gilt frame.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.