4367 - Mediterranean mountain landscape with a castle complex

Mediterranean mountain landscape with a castle complex An evening view, past farmers loading a barge, across a tranquil lake, towards the town perched on a steep rock with its imposing castle against a backdrop of high mountains, bathed in the warm light of the evening sun, an almost identical painting by Eduard Agricola (1800-1872) previously appeared on the market as ‘View of Castel Gandolfo and Lake Albano’; like the present painting, it dates from the mid-19th century, possibly a copy of a freely composed, romantically idealised landscape reflecting the 19th-century fascination with Italy; in the foreground, farmers are depicted in typical Italian traditional dress, along the rugged shore towering high above the lake runs a road, interspersed with bridges and featuring a striking wayside shrine; in the background, elaborate bridge structures provide access to a town with a church on a plateau, above which a mighty castle complex, fortified with towers, is perched, the composition captivates with its wealth of detail as well as with a warm Mediterranean light, which pleasantly rounds off the romantic and contemplative character of the painting; finely glazed painting, oil on canvas, indistinctly signed and dated ‘M.a.F. 1854’ in the lower left-hand corner, backed, signs of age, in its original gilded stucco frame (with some losses), inner dimensions approx. 41 x 61 cm.