Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, January 28, 2000, lot 97, where acquired by the present owner.

Paintings such as this, with the romanticised peasant dwelling, monumental marble columns and warm afternoon light, are inconceivable without the artist's long stay in Rome from 1754-65. Robert arrived in Rome among the entourage of the French Ambassador to the Holy See, the Comte de Stainville, and he continued to be supported from the highest levels during his sojourn, not least by the Marquis de Marigny, Mme. de Pompadour's brother, and the Duc de Choiseul, made French Foreign Minister in 1758, who was his protector. During his eleven years in Rome Robert produced countless architectural sketches in the Roman campagna and it was probably with reference to one such drawing that he conceived the elaborately marbled temple that forms the backdrop to the peasant scene in this picture. Although Robert did paint true representations of certain ruins, like the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, many of the ruins he depicts are inventions, only partly based on reality. The scene here is highly romanticised and would have appealed greatly to Robert's enormous following of wealthy clients both at home, in Paris, and abroad, notably in Russia. Judging by the upright format this painting was probably originally painted as one of a pair.