993 - Martin Wirth, Madeira, "Brücke bei Monte", stone arch bridge over rocky stream bed in Funchal, 2000

Martin Wirth, Madeira, "Brücke bei Monte", stone arch bridge over rocky stream bed in Funchal, 2000 (1939 – 2017 Ilsenburg), watercolour over pencil on paper, signed lower left, inscribed and dated verso "Madeira, Febr. 2000" and titled "Brücke bei Monte (Ortsteil v. Funchal)", single-arched stone bridge over a rocky stream bed, on the bridge two figures in peaked caps, tall slender trees on the left, hazy green forest in the background, good condition commensurate with age, image 32x24 cm (HxW) Monte lies high above the old town of Funchal, the capital of Madeira; the parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte was established circa 1565, and the place became a summer retreat for wealthy families from Funchal. The parish is known for its gardens with endemic and exotic plants, such as the Parque Municipal do Monte, laid out from 1894 to 1899, through which the Ribeiro de Santa Maria flows. Monte has traditionally been linked to the town by the wicker toboggans, the carros de cesto, and from 1893 to 1943 also by a rack railway; in November 2000, a few months after this Madeira watercolour was made, the cable car from Funchal to Monte was inaugurated. Emperor Charles I of Austria died in exile in Monte in 1922. Martin Wirth was a teacher and landscape designer in Darlingerode (today part of Ilsenburg) on the northern edge of the Harz.