Paire De Gouaches XIXème Siècle D’après Philipp Hackert (1737-1807)

Exceptional pair of gouaches after the Prussian painter Philipp Hackert representing two ports of the Kingdom of Naples: The port of Gallipoli and
that of Barletta.
In 1787 Hackert began the series of ports which, for years, led to Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. "To this official production of the court painter responding to the request of the sovereign (this is Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, 1751-1825) is added a private activity (...) among which there are replicas of famous paintings (...). by Hackert, Views of the Kingdom of Naples, Franco Maria Ricci, 2002, p.36

The canvases representing the ports of the kingdom intended to decorate the royal palace of Caserta are large: 144 x 222 cm.
Our gouaches measure 54 x 79 cm, but they reproduce the originals perfectly and down to the smallest details. Only the sheep in the sky vary.
They are of astonishing finesse in the representation of the numerous characters, boats and quays and port facilities.
They date from the first half of the 19th century, when souvenirs of the Grand Tour sites and its artistic treasures were not yet mass produced and increasingly crude.
They are very fresh in color and in very good condition. Note a few water stains, which do not affect the general impression.
The frames are modern and fit well. Restoration period frames would be even better suitedExceptional pair of gouaches after the Prussian painter Philipp Hackert representing two ports of the Kingdom of Naples: The port of Gallipoli and
that of Barletta.
In 1787 Hackert began the series of ports which, for years, led to Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. "To this official production of the court painter responding to the request of the sovereign (this is Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, 1751-1825) is added a private activity (...) among which there are replicas of famous paintings (...). by Hackert, Views of the Kingdom of Naples, Franco Maria Ricci, 2002, p.36

The canvases representing the ports of the kingdom intended to decorate the royal palace of Caserta are large: 144 x 222 cm.
Our gouaches measure 54 x 79 cm, but they reproduce the originals perfectly and down to the smallest details. Only the sheep in the sky vary.
They are of astonishing finesse in the representation of the numerous characters, boats and quays and port facilities.
They date from the first half of the 19th century, when souvenirs of the Grand Tour sites and its artistic treasures were not yet mass produced and increasingly crude.
They are very fresh in color and in very good condition. Note a few water stains, which do not affect the general impression.
The frames are modern and fit well. Restoration period frames would be even better suited.

Hackert's landscape views are topographically precise, the construction is strictly classical, the manner of painting dry, almost devoid of atmosphere. This suited Italian tourism's need to reproduce details better than the free composition of the heroic landscapes of his Roman colleagues and explains part of his success. Goethe elevated it to the rank of an instructive ideal for his successors, who, however, with the advent of Romanticism, pursued a completely different conception of landscape. Following the Lazzaroni revolt, Hackert fled from Naples via Livorno and Pisa to Florence, where he died in 1807 at his estate.Hackert's landscape views are topographically precise, the construction is strictly classical, the manner of painting dry, almost devoid of atmosphere. This suited Italian tourism's need to reproduce details better than the free composition of the heroic landscapes of his Roman colleagues and explains part of his success. Goethe elevated it to the rank of an instructive ideal for his successors, who, however, with the advent of Romanticism, pursued a completely different conception of landscape. Following the Lazzaroni revolt, Hackert fled from Naples via Livorno and Pisa to Florence, where he died in 1807 at his estate.