Lot 2223 Dα

Carl Philipp Fohr died two years after his arrival in Rome at the age of only 22. During his short life, however, he created an astonishingly extensive oeuvre of drawings, which Peter Märker compiled in a catalogue raisonné published in 2015. Fohr's drawings are among the most beautiful of the German Romantic period.


This sheet is one of a series of views of Heidelberg Castle made in 1813/1814 - that is, after Fohr's training period in Munich and before his move to Rome in 1816. A comparable eastern view of the castle ruins, also seen from below, is in the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt. Our sheet differs from this very strongly outlined version in its atmospheric values and lighting conditions. However, Fohr probably created the most beautiful eastern view "from memory", namely in Rome in 1817. In contrast to the two earlier versions, the painter's location here is above the castle, so that the view extends far into the distance. This depiction from the estate of the Hereditary Princess Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt now belongs to the Cultural Foundation of the House of Hesse in Kronberg.