Jakob Philipp Hackert

Maria Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), Queen of Naples and Sicily, wife of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, III of Sicily and IV of Naples (1751-1825) ;
Her son Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies (1777-1830);
His son Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies (1810-1859);
By descent to his daughter Princess Maria Pia of the Two Sicilies (1849-1882), who married Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907);
Elias Duke of Parma (1880-1959), who married the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1882-1940);
Thence by descent.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a recent lining and stretcher. It is in remarkably good condition, with no wear and beautifully preserved crisp brushwork. There are a few surface retouchings visible under ultra violet light up the central stretcher bar lines mainly in the lower sky with some just below in the landscape. Elsewhere there are just a few minor touches for instance near the lower right corner, but no sign of any damage. The early craquelure in the foliage on the left is slightly more distinct than elsewhere, where the almost immaculate surface and brilliance of the setting sunlight is beautifully intact. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The view is looking East-South East from above the right bank of the river Tiber near Ponzano Romano, but not far from Civita Castellana, as the old inscription on the reverse of the canvas states.  The hilltop villages to the right would appear to be Filacciano and Torrita Tibertina. 

Hackert fled Naples, where he had been Court Painter, because of the Revolution in 1799, and settled later that year at Careggi, near Florence.  This painting may have been painted in Naples, but it is far more likely that it was done after Hackert had moved North, because it is of a format that is consistent with works dating from the years after 1799, such as the companion picture (the following lot). Both it and the following lot are most probably the smaller of two pairs of paintings bought directly from the artist by Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, the wife of  King Ferdinand IV, who had hitherto been his staunchest patron, and recorded in a letter from Hackert to Count Dönhoff in Berlin in Berlin in 1801.

Hackert based his Italian vedute on drawings made during travels throughout most of the Italian peninsular and Sicily.  Often, the paintings were made many years after the drawings, and he used his large stock of them for the bulk of his work done after 1799, when his travels were largely confined to Tuscany.  Many of his drawings survive, but it is clear that there must have been many more that are no longer extant, or are yet to be rediscovered.  No drawings directly related to this painting are known, but drawings of Civita Castellana and in the neighbourhood of Poggio Mirteto dated 1776 record a journey he made in the area then.¹ 

Like its companion, this picture is characterised by a tranquil sense of balance as the trees in the foreground delineate a clear corridor, drawing our eyes along the Tiber valley in the middle distance which in turn gently recedes into the foothills, and then the Sabine massif in the distance.  Far more than being a presentation of a topographically accurate view, this and its companion perfectly illustrate the German artist's ability to present an impression of Italy which appealed so strongly to the Northern mind yearning for the South.  Here Hackert depicts the soft warm tones of an early summer evening in Latium, the Sabine mountains famous then and now for their rich pink colouring.

We are grateful to Dr. Claudia Nordhoff for her assistance with the cataloguing of this and the following lot. Both paintings will be published by her in her forthcoming edition of the letters of Jacob Philip Hackert.

1.  The former in St Petersburg, Hermitage, inv. no. 11141, the latter formerly in Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. no. 8585, but alas destroyed in 1945, and without photographic record; see C. Nordhoff & H. Reimer, Jakob Philipp Hackert 1737-1807.  Verzeichnis seiner Werke, Berlin 1994, vol. II, p. 284, nos. 686 & 687.