Gezicht op het meer bij Thun in Zwitserland 1753 - 1790

Carl Guttenberg produced this print of Lake Thun in Switzerland sometime before his death in 1790. It is an example of the picturesque landscape that was increasingly popular in eighteenth-century Europe. Prints like these played an important role in shaping the image of Switzerland for outsiders. Note the title: "A View of Switzerland," implying that this scene is somehow representative of the whole country. Switzerland in this period was a popular destination for wealthy tourists, and images like this fed a growing market for souvenirs. As such, the print is less a faithful record of an actual view than it is a commercial product, designed to appeal to certain expectations about the country as a place of natural beauty. Historians investigate the social conditions that shape artistic production. By studying tourist accounts, guidebooks, and other visual representations of Switzerland from this period, we can better understand the cultural forces that shaped Guttenberg's image.