Joseph UCHARD, Architect, Prix de Rome 1838, active in Paris - Lot 488

Joseph UCHARD, Architect, Prix de Rome 1838, active in Paris (Paris 1809 - 1891) Autograph letter signed from LA VILLA MEDICIS, ROME, December 2, 1842. To Mr. MONTIGNY, 3 pages large in-8°. (He lived there from February 1839 to December 1843, INGRES ran the place until 1841.) "When I left Paris to come and spend five years in Italy, it seemed to me that they should never end, and yet I am about to enter my last year of boarding school, not finding the time I have left to spend here too long to finish my shipments, my studies and my travels. You have no doubt seen my letter of last year. I don't know whether it was approved by the public, I only know that the Institute judged it quite favorably. This year I have done little work on my consignment, having been prevented from doing so by my trip to Sicily, so I do not hope to have it finished for the 1843 Exhibition, and I think I will be reluctant to postpone it until the end of my pension. The restoration I propose to do is that of the Temple of Mars Ultor and the Forum of Augustus. This temple was dedicated by Augustus in his Forum, in accordance with the vow he had made during the Macedonian War to avenge the death of Caesar, his adoptive father. This Temple was also intended for the Assemblies of the Senate..." (excerpt)