Orientalischer Seehafen bei Sonnenaufgang

This work, which was commissioned in Rome in 1751 with a companion piece, shows a harbor view in clear morning light. Fishermen are returning from sea, women are fetching water from a huge fountain basin before the gates of a fortress. In the cabinet piece, the artist has masterfully arranged his group and marine studies, and accentuates important pictorial aspects both compositionally, through the diagonally-placed rolled up sail, as well as color-wise through the standing red clad, slightly off-center Middle Easterner. The portrayal of Middle Eastern costumery is an exception in his oeuvre and constitutes rather a concession to the taste of the time.