Lot 2: CARL GUSTAV CARUS

CARL GUSTAV CARUS GERMAN 1789 - 1869 KLOSTER MONTE OLIVETO BEI FLORENZ (THE MONASTERY OF MONTE OLIVETO MAGGIORE, NEAR FLORENCE) oil on paper laid on board 9.7 by 12cm., 3¾ by 4¾in.

Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste, 150 Jahre Kunst und Künstler in Leipzig. Jubiläumsausstellung, 1937, no. 48

Carl Gustav Carus, Mnemosyne. Blätter aus Gedenk- und Tagebüchern, Pforzheim, 1848, p. 207
Elisabeth Bülck, Carl Gustav Carus. Sein Leben und sein Werk im Verhältnis zu Caspar Friedrich und dessen anderen Schülern betrachtet, unpublished dissertation, Greifswald, 1943
Marianne Prause, Carl Gustav Carus. Leben und Werk, Berlin, 1968, p. 129, no. 178, illustrated

Studio of the artist; thence by descent to the present owner

Painted in 1841 according to Marianne Prause.

Carus painted this image of the grounds of the Benedictine monastery Monte Oliveto Maggiore following his third trip to Italy in 1841. This inspiring landscape prompted the following diary entry, dated 21 March: 'in the afternoon I visited the monastery of Monte Oliveto, set among olive trees on a hill outside town. The place had a peculiarly melancholic feel - with its yellow walls, the silver grey olive trees, and the quiet and solitude of the hills - and yet afforded a splendid view over the valley and the town. I am recording one of the prettier views in colour, in the hope that I shall return some time' (Carus, p. 207).