Lot 43

Ludwig Mecklenburg (1820 - 1882) VENICE IN THE EVENING LIGHT

The exceptionally detailed large-format work of Ludwig Meckleburg captures the veduta of Venice in an impressive evening light. The silhouette of Santa Maria della Salute and its two bell towers are immersed in soft, warm tones, as is the entire mouth of the Grand Canal, interwoven with the reflection of the evening sun. On the right we can notice the Doge's Palace, a magnificent architectural gem of Venetian Gothic, which welcomed merchants coming to "Serenissima" for several centuries. This fact Ludwig Mecklenburg emphasized by the human staff in the lively business on the banks of the Grand Canal. This particular view of Venice was one of his favorites and he did not hesitate to portray it in several light situations and times of day. However, we can consider this work to be the author's pivotal one, as it has received the largest format in the given elaboration and the dating of the work precedes the other versions. Ludwig Mecklenburg was born in Hamburg, where he studied landscape painting and vedutas with Johann Joachim Faber (1778 - 1846), and moved to Munich in 1843. He spent many years in Italy, mainly in Venice and Verona. The work comes from the private collection of Countess Julia Hartig (née Bellegarde), wife of Edmund Hartig, an Austrian and Czech politician and diplomat.