RUDOLF WIEGMANN | Rome, a View of the Tiber River Looking South with the Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica Beyond

Details

Rudolf Wiegmann
ADENSEN 1804–1865 DÜSSELDORF
ROME, A VIEW OF THE RIVER TIBER LOOKING SOUTH WITH THE CASTEL SANT'ANGELO AND SAINT PETER'S BASILICA BEYOND

signed and dated twice on the stone balustrade upper left: RW (in monogram) 1834 and WIEGMANN/ 1834
oil on canvas, in a period frame
68.2 x 99.2 cm.; 26 7/8 x 39 in.

PROVENANCE
Acquired by William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong (1810–1900) in about 1850;
Thence by family descent until sold (‘The Property of a Gentleman’), Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 2003, lot 63 for £117,600 ($192,000);
Where acquired by the present owner.

CATALOGUE NOTE
Painter, architect and archaeologist, Rudolf Wiegmann studied architecture at Göttingen before leaving for Rome in 1828 to further his education. There he immersed himself in the architecture of antiquity and his experiences were to inspire the topographical views of Italy painted on his return to Germany in 1832. Several paintings by him of Rome are recorded, the majority dated between 1833 and 1836, though he continued to paint views of the city during the course of the following decade. Characteristic of these works is the meticulous care with which the monuments are rendered, seen here to particularly good effect in the forms of the Castel Sant’Angelo on the right and the Basilica of St Peter in the middle distance beyond, its distinctive dome reflected in the River Tiber. In 1835 Wiegmann moved to Düsseldorf, where he later became Professor of Architecture at the academy. His subsequent career centred on his activity as an architect, working on buildings that included for instance the renovation and redesign in late Gothic style of the Salvatorkirche in Duisburg.