Udsigt mod italiensk bjerglandsby 1864 - 1867

L.A. Schou made this pencil sketch titled 'View Towards an Italian Mountain Village', sometime in the 1860s. It's a quick rendering of a small village perched high on a hillside. Schou's choice of subject reflects the nineteenth-century fascination with the 'picturesque' qualities of rural life, particularly in Southern Europe. It was common for artists to travel to Italy to sketch landscapes and daily life. These would then be worked up into larger paintings back in their studios. It's interesting to consider how this image plays into the broader phenomenon of the Grand Tour, where wealthy Europeans, often aristocrats, would visit sites of cultural and historical significance. While Schou was not wealthy, his training at the Danish Academy gave him access to travel stipends. These were awarded to promising artists to broaden their horizons. Understanding this sketch requires us to consider the institutions that shaped Schou's artistic training and the broader cultural context that made the Italian landscape such an appealing subject. By consulting travel guides, letters, and other documents, we can begin to reconstruct the world in which this seemingly simple drawing was made.