Johann Jakob Frey (1813-1865) Roman campaign and Vatican

Johann Jakob Frey (1813-1865)
The Vatican seen from the Roman countryside.
Oil on canvas signed, dated and located on the rock at the bottom left: “J. J Frey / Rome 1859”
110.5 cm x 145.5 cm without frame.

Johann Jakob Frey, is a Swiss artist born in Basel in 1813. He began his career by being an apprentice with his father in Basel, before settling in Paris. Through a chance meeting in Munich, he was able to visit Rome in 1835 and befriend such renowned artists as landscape painters Joseph Anton Koch and Johann Christian Reinhart. He also traveled to Sicily, Spain and Egypt to document landscapes and architecture. Returning to Rome in 1843, he quickly enjoyed financial success thanks to commissions from monarchies and wealthy patrons. Frey executed this elaborate panorama of the Roman plain with this focus on the Vatican in 1859, he used unique compositional techniques, such as playing with light and proportion, to create dramatic effects and give an artistic interpretation of architectural elements. Frey spent a significant part of his life in Rome and died in Frascati in 1865. His works are present in numerous Italian and Swiss collections and also in the Basel Museum.