Joseph Anton Koch
(1768-1839)
Heroische Landschaft mit Regenbogen,
1812
Material / Technology / Carrier
Öl auf Leinwand
Dimensions of the object
188,4 x 170,1 cm
Displayed
AP EG Saal I
Acquisition
1850 durch König Ludwig I. aus dem Besitz der Münchner Kunstakademie erworben
Stock
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München
Citation
Joseph Anton Koch, Heroische Landschaft mit Regenbogen, 1812, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/ZMLJYwexJv (Last updated on 22.01.2024)
Koch began this large format work in 1804 in Rome without having received a commission. Completed in 1812, the painting was first presented in 1817 at the Academy Exhibition in Munich and was subsequently purchased by the Art Academy. Ludwig I acquired the work in 1850 for his collection of contemporary paintings. The Gulf of Salerno was the inspiring motif for Koch's magnificent landscape, which he had already used in a watercolor study as early as 1795. After the passing of a severe storm, the figures in the foreground look upon a world free of strife - an idealized "Superior Ancient Greece". Even the poisonous snakes are carried away by birds into the sky, heralding the advent of a new Golden Age. An enthusiastic supporter of the ideals of the French Revolution, Koch invested this vision of a new Arcadia with political meaning.
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