604 - Jakob Philipp Hackert

Jakob Philipp Hackert 1737 Prenzlau – 1807 San Piero di Careggio, now Careggi, a district of Florence – Italian landscape – (1798) ink in sepia on paper. 53.5 x 66.5 cm (mat cutout). 69 x 82 cm (dimensions with frame). Signed and dated lower left: Filipp Hackert f(ecit). / 1798. Inscribed on the back of the frame on a label from Galerie Bauer, Hanover. Mat. Framed under glass. Unopened. A few isolated foxing spots. Small, backed hole in the upper right corner. Hackert is considered one of the most important German landscape painters of the 18th century. He spent a large part of his life in Italy and became known in particular for his idealized yet topographically precise depictions of Italian landscapes. A dated sepia drawing from 1798 belongs to his late creative period. Such works are particularly interesting because they demonstrate Hackert’s masterful command of light, atmosphere, and landscape composition.