Gebirgslandschaft mit hohem Wasserfall 

Franz Kobell rendered this mountain landscape with a high waterfall using pen and gray ink, reflecting the aesthetic sensibilities of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Kobell was born into a family of artists and active in the courts of Mannheim and Munich. His work emerged during the Enlightenment, when the aesthetics of nature became aligned with new ideas about liberty and the sublime. What does it mean to view nature through a lens of liberty? This landscape embodies a yearning for freedom which also reveals the social and political undercurrents of the period. The figures, dwarfed by their surroundings, reflect a deeply felt connection to the natural world, but also a class-based perspective on who has access to such experiences. The emotional resonance of the sublime is evident in the romanticized rendering of the waterfall. Through its layered representation of nature and humanity, Kobell's drawing acts as a powerful reflection on the societal values of his time.