Landscape on Ischia 31 - 1823

Johannes Thomas made this landscape of Ischia as a pencil drawing sometime in the 19th century. It shows an Italian landscape, with a stream bed in the foreground and buildings nestled into the distant hills. Drawings like this one, from the first half of the 1800s, show an increasing interest in direct observation. New art academies and teaching methods encouraged artists to go out into the world and record what they saw. Here, the artist’s close attention to the details of light and texture can still be seen in the careful and precise strokes. The Italian landscape was particularly popular with northern European artists in the 19th century. It served as a space where artists could encounter ancient ruins or experience the sublime power of nature, away from the industrialized cities of their home countries. For the art historian, looking at these drawings means finding out what was at stake for artists in the 1800s, using travel records, art criticism, and other historical sources. In this way, the image becomes more than just a picture, but evidence about a particular moment in time.