Lot 1512 Dα

Label verso: "Zur Erinnerung an (...) von Wasserfluten den 31. März 1845 beschädigten Dresdner Elbbrücke. Dahl". (In commemoration of the damaged Dresden river Elbe bridge on 31 March 1845)
These two previously unknown oil sketches commemorate the so called “Sächsische Sintflut (Saxonian deluge)”, the largest high tide of the river Elbe in the 19th century. Large parts of the inner city were flooded and floating refuse caused one of the pillars of the Augustus Bridge, the only bridge in Dresden at the time, to collapse. In terms of style and composition, the two small-scale pictures can be associated with the cityscapes Dahl painted during his second sojourn, a time when he also painted the large picture “Dresden bei Nacht (Dresden at night)”, 1843, (66.7 x 101.2cm, Bang no. 972) and other small works. In December 1845 Dahl gave such a painting to his daughter, Caroline, in order to remind her of the disaster of March 31st; the painting depicts the repair of the bridge immediately after the high tide (Bang no. 1034). In the same year and in 1846, Dahl painted two further, slightly larger views of Dresden with similar motifs.