View of the Colosseum in Rome

11: View of the Colosseum in Rome

Carl Blechen
Cottbus 1798 - 1840 Berlin

Fondation Custodia
Rights held by: Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris, promised gift

At age 24, Blechen left his career in banking to attend the Academy of Arts, Berlin, where he studied under landscape artist Peter Ludwig Lütke. While a student, he traveled to Dresden and was influenced by painters of the German romantic movement, such as Caspar David Friedrich and Johann Christian Clausen Dahl. His journey to Italy in 1828–1829 had a profound effect on his artistic development, marked by a freedom of handling and a sensitivity to the dramatic shifts in light and shadow.

Text written and researched by Michelle Bird National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Oil on paper, mounted on wood panel
18.8 × 31.9 cm

Created: 1829