The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

The Bathers, Souvenir of the Banks of the Anio River at Tivoli

c. 1860/1861

Théodore Caruelle d' Aligny

(French, 1798–1871)
France, 19th century
oil on wood panel
Framed: 58.5 x 60.5 x 8 cm (23 1/16 x 23 13/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 37.5 x 41 cm (14 3/4 x 16 1/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1980.4
Location: Not on view

Description

Although painted in France, this work depicts bathers near Tivoli, a popular, parklike estate near Rome, famous for its fountains, picturesque hills, and lush forests. As was the custom for many artists of the 19th century, d'Aligny traveled to Italy to study. He remained there from 1825 until 1827, making careful drawings and oil sketches directly from the Roman countryside. He would often use these works to compose more finished paintings in his studio. Although d'Aligny visited Italy twice more, his last trip was in 1843. This painting, made years after that date, is therefore a true souvenir, that is, a recollection evoking his experiences in Italy
  • Possibly Paris, Aligny sale, Drouot, 8-9 March 1878 (lot 1), Les Baigneuses. Paris art market. Bought in 1979 by Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London. Purchased by the CMA on 22 November 1980.
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Mentioned: p. 211, no. 19 www.jstor.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 2-4, Vol. I, no. 1
  • Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    London, Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. The Lure of Rome: Some Northern Artists in Italy in the Nineteenth Century (1979), no. 47, fig. 42.
    Paris. Salon (1861), no. 24, Les baigneuses, souvenir des bords de l'Anio, à Tivoli.
  • {{cite web|title=The Bathers, Souvenir of the Banks of the Anio River at Tivoli|url=false|author=Théodore Caruelle d' Aligny|year=c. 1860/1861|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.4