(Hadamar 1851–1913 Capri) Isle of the Dead, after Arnold Böcklin, circa 1905, inscribed with the monogram AB, oil on canvas, 100 x 150 cm, framed, (W)

Provenance:
Private collection, Rome.

Catalogued in:
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, Emporio Floreale, Rome, May/June 1979, Exhibition catalogue no. 5 p. 11 (ill.)
Arnold Bocklin e la cultura artistica in Toscana, Palazina Mangani, July/September 1980, Exhibition catalogue, p. 178 (ill.).
Claudia Wagner, Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach 1851–1913), Meister und Mission, with a catalogue raisonné of all known oil paintings, 2007, CR. 5.7 (with incorrect dimensions).

Exhibited:
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach Emporio Floreale, Rome May/June 1979; Arnold Böcklin e la cultura artistica in Toscana, Palazina Mangani, Fiesole/July/September 1980.

The present work is a variation on the famous painting by Arnold Böcklin and can be considered as Diefenbach`s homage to his idol, as the monogram AB on the building on the right also indicates. There are several differences to Böcklin’s version, for example the Egyptian ruins, drawn from Diefenbach’s travels to Cairo, and the cliffs of Capri, the island where Diefenbach spent the later years of his life.