Jacob Alt (German, 1789-1872)

Jacob Alt (German, 1789-1872) , "Sight on Rome", oil on canvas, signed, indistinctly dated and inscribed "Rome" lower center, monogrammed lower left, 48 in. x 79 in., framed with artist and title plaque . Provenance: Oaklawn Manor, Franklin, LA; Estates of George and Mary Beth Thomson, Franklin, LA Note: Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Jacob Alt studied oil painting, watercolor and lithography in Vienna, Austria where he built his career. Alt became well-known for his views of Rome, Venice, and the Danube River area. Between 1833 and 1848, Alt and his son, Rudolf, contributed to the series of large-scale watercolors known as Guckkastenblätter, commissioned by the Archduke Ferdinand, later Emperor Ferdinand I. These watercolors depicted the most picturesque sites of the Austrian Empire and Italy, and a number were featured in an exhibition entitled “Jakob and Rudolf von Alt. At His Majesty’s Service” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna in 2010. The watercolors by the Alts represent the peak of Austrian watercolor painting and were meant to reveal to Ferdinand I the beauty of his empire and its adjacent lands. This rare, monumental canvas by Alt offered here demonstrates his skill with oil paint and captures the splendor of the landscape surrounding Rome, seen in the distance. The artist’s meticulous attention to detail and careful brushwork translate perfectly into oil, and the carefully constructed composition draws the eye to the sensitively-portrayed traveling family in an ox-drawn wagon, which add an element of narrative to the expansive scene.
Ref.: Rewald, Sabine. Rooms with a View: The Open Window in the 19th Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, p. 140.