Mother And Daughter Before The Temple Of Neptune At Paestum, Friedrich Perlberg

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER BEFORE THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE AT PAESTUM
Friedrich Perlberg (1848 Nuremberg -1921 Munich)
watercolor on paper
signed lower right: F. Perlberg and inscribed lower left: Temple of Neptune at Pästum

Friedrich Perlberg's accurate depiction of the Temple of Neptune at Paestum shows that he was not only an accomplished landscape painter, but also an architect. The staff figures, the mother and daughter in the costume of the Roman Campagna, add charm and local color to his painting of the temple. Perlberg was one of the traveling painters. He visited Italy, Spain, Egypt, and the United States in search of exciting motifs that would appeal to his traveling clientele. With his Temple of Neptune at Paestum, he stands in the great tradition of 18th-century Grand Tour painting. Paestum was part of the established canon of ancient sites to be visited by the great tourist, and this remains the case today.