Mastiff (?) in a Violent Landscape

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein worked in Hamburg and Berlin before spending most of the years 1779-1799 in Italy. While there, he became the close companion of Goethe, and the two were so much associated that the painter came to be known as "Goethe Tischbein," a moniker that also helped distinguish him from the many other artist members of the Tischbein family. Both in Italy and after his return to Germany, Tischbein was fascinated by the natural world and the present sheet is one of his many finished watercolors depicting animals. The exploration of the interaction of men and animals--and of the violence associated with that interaction--is typical of Tischbein's work, which forms a bridge between Enlightenment rationalism and the beginnings of Romanticism.
Watermark: Crown and wreath inside circle. Watermark, transmitted infrared, circle, crown, wreath. 444784wm_2022_191_WM_transIR.tiff