Lot 1589 Dα

The play of light over the Italian landscape has long held a fascination for northern artists, from the Flemish and German artists of the 15th and 16th centuries, to the Nazarenes in the early 19th century and later the Düsseldorf school. Oswald Achenbach, the most well known representative of this school, travelled to the south many times and mainly drew inspiration from the Italian landscapes he saw there. The area between Lake Albano and Lake Nemi to the south of Rome was a favourite destination for many artists, especially the two small towns of Ariccia and Albano on the Via Appia Antica, which were connected by the footpath after which Achenbach's large scale work is named. The artist's characteristic pink and blue tones perfectly reflect the morning mood of this landscape with a view over the plain of Campania. A pair of women dressed in colourful traditional costume, one of which rides a donkey and carries a baby in her arms, are depicted comparatively large in the foreground.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Museum in Krefeld houses a smaller version of this work, which according to Mechthild Potthoff is a "slightly later copy of the motif" (a.a.O., pg. 291).