Italienische Landschaft mit einem Brunnen an der Straße 

Eduard Wilhelm Pose made this pencil drawing, entitled 'Italian Landscape with a Fountain on the Road' sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. This sketch brings us into the visual culture of European Romanticism. Pose’s interest in the Italian landscape stemmed from the popularity of the Grand Tour, where upper-class Europeans, particularly the British and Germans, visited Italy to experience its art, culture, and history. This was a time when the middle classes were rising and the old aristocratic order was being undermined. Travel, and the art that came from it, was about self-cultivation as much as class distinction. The Italian landscape became a symbol of cultural refinement, with the fountain serving as a meeting point for different classes of travelers. Historians can investigate the social functions of such imagery by looking at guidebooks, travel accounts, and other cultural artifacts of the period. What we learn helps us understand the public role of art and the social conditions that shape artistic production.