View of the Falls at Tivoli

The town of Tivoli outside Rome, with its dramatic waterfalls, had attracted artists since the 16th century. In his oil sketches Granet often chose unconventional viewpoints such as this one, where the falls are just glimpsed on the far right of the picture. Here he has reinterpreted a view which he had already drawn from the esplanade near the Temple of Vesta, looking across to the other side of the River Aniene. Buildings are reversed and a bank of flowers is added in the foreground, which suggest that this work was painted in the studio rather than directly from nature.