Landscape near Cava dei Tirreni, Jakob Philipp Hackert (1778)
The works by German landscape painter Jakob Philipp Hackert signify a new orientation in the depiction of nature. Whereas previous landscape painters tried to capture the beauty of nature, Hackert endeavored to combine this tradition with a faithful rendering of topographical features. Landscape near Cava dei Tirreni, a painting commissioned by the Russian Grand Duke Paul Petrovich and his consort Maria Feodorovna in the former Kingdom of Naples in 1778, reflects this claim in an exemplary manner: Whereas in the foreground the beauty of the landscape has been depicted with a shepherd and animals, in the background, we see Monte Finestra. Admired by the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie alike, and highly esteemed by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Hackert was appointed as the “Foremost Royal Landscape, Sea, and Hunting Painter” by Ferdinando I di Borbone.
