Italian Coastal Landscape with a Thunderstorm 1828 - 1831

This evocative drawing by Friedrich Preller the Elder, created between 1828 and 1831, depicts a dramatic Italian coastal landscape. The artist uses soft tones of brown and gray to capture the feeling of a looming thunderstorm, with a strong emphasis on the turbulent sky. The foreground features a group of sheep and a shepherd, framed by the windswept branches of a lone tree, creating a sense of tranquility in the face of the approaching storm. The scene's composition, with the distant coastline and mountain range fading into the horizon, suggests a sense of vastness and perspective, characteristic of Preller's romantic style.