Circle of Johann Friedrich Overbeck

Most German artists in the nineteenth century, including the Nazarenes, sought inspiration in Italy, not only from the beauty of unchanging environments of the Italian landscapes - especially those of the Roman campagna - but also from the art of the early masters.

A group of artists united under the leadership of Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) and Franz Pforr (1788-1812), some with strong catholic convictions, formed a community that became known as the Lucas Brotherhood, after the artists's patron St. Luke.¹ The members became known as the 'Nazarenes' and their credo was to revive biblical subjects and other religious themes, to replace the romantic sentiment of the pastoral and Arcadian landscapes that dominated the fashion of the day.

This and the following two lots are fascinating, finished drapery studies, deriving from a Quattrocento Florentine tradition of studying the effect of light on cloth arranged with elaborate, pleated folds cascading from wooden mannequins.

In the present studies (see also the following two lots) the preliminary study in pencil becomes a highly finished and elaborate artistic exercise. The minute touches of pen and ink over the watercolor then enrich the texture of the cloth's surface. The light, emphasized by white heightening, creates a beautiful shimmering throughout. The pleated folds of the cloths suggest the shape and position of the body underneath. These are exquisitely executed and show the work of a skillful and experienced artist, possibly Peter von Cornelius (1783-1867), Friedrick Wilhelm Shadow (1789-1862) or Philipp Veit (1793-1877).

1. Many moved to Rome in 1810, to live in the empty cloister of San Isidoro ,with the intention of emulating a monastic community.