Roman Elegy
Roman Elegy is a 1791 oil painting by the Swiss artist Jacques Sablet. It depicts two men in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome mourning over a friend's tomb. In the background is the Pyramid of Cestius while shepherds are shown tending their flock of sheep. A conversation piece, it is distinctly Neoclassical in style although its mournful atmosphere reflects the emerging Romantic movement. The picture may feature a self-portrait of the artist along with his brother Jean-François Sablet. The title is a reference to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's series of poems Roman Elegies. The painting is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Brest in Brittany.