Lot 1696 D α

Károly Markó first completed his studies as an engineer in Budapest before becoming a painter, beginning his career as a self taught artist in Vienna. Like many other artists of his generation, he soon moved to Italy, arriving in Rome in 1832. He later moved to Pisa for several years before residing in Florence from 1840 to 1847. There he met a certain Count Gherardesca who allowed him to live in his Villa Appeggi in Florence, where he remained for the rest of his life.
This work was painted in 1859, a year before the artist's death in the Villa Appeggi, as the artist notes beside his signature. The painting is an especially characteristic work of Markó's mature phase, which is commonly regarded to be his finest period. His later, idealised landscapes are composed in a stark and classical manner, bathing the southern atmosphere in a warm colour palette and golden light.