Felshang mit Wasserfall und zwei Wanderern 

Editor: This ink and pen drawing by Franz Kobell, called "Felshang mit Wasserfall und zwei Wanderern" at the Städel Museum, pulls me right in. It feels… rugged, almost wild. I'm curious about those little figures amidst all that landscape. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It’s interesting you call it rugged. The piece encapsulates a shifting attitude toward landscape and its place in society. Think about the role landscapes played for different audiences at the time this was created: where would someone likely encounter such a drawing? Was it commissioned by the court, part of a book for public consumption, or perhaps kept in a private collection? Editor: That’s a great point. The fact it is a drawing makes me think maybe a private collection rather than for wide distribution, a personal connection to the landscape itself? Curator: Precisely. These intimate works, not initially designed for large audiences, signaled a growing public fascination with untamed nature. One could also explore the rise of Romanticism; How might the scale of nature dwarf those wandering figures, playing into popular period notions of the sublime? Editor: The Romantic period! So the emphasis isn’t necessarily on pristine, manicured gardens like at Versailles, but on nature that inspires awe... or even fear? The landscape is presented, for a new public, as inherently monumental through this display. Curator: Exactly! How does seeing these "Wanderers" within that framework change your perception of the piece? Editor: It flips it, actually! It's less about the individuals *conquering* nature and more about them being *consumed* by its grandeur. That changes the whole mood, giving it a layer of... reverence, maybe? Thank you! Curator: My pleasure. This also reveals a deeper significance of drawings and art outside the Salon or museum; Art playing an increasingly democratized social role.