Vaulted Staircase, c. 1770-1779. Hubert Robert was known for his drawings of antiquities and architecture throughout Italy, many of which were rendered in red chalk. Here, he departed from his usual technique, taking up brown ink and wash to create deep recession of space and shadows. Robert spent more than ten years in Rome, and often drew throughout the city. He sketched its monuments on site and, more significantly, created his own imagined variations based on the Roman architectural vocabulary, as is the case here.