(Dresden 1797–1869 Leipzig)
Don Manuel, in Pursuit of a Deer, Catching Sight of Beatrice for the First Time (“The Bride of Messina”), signed (in ligature), dated G. A. Henig p. 1855, verso remains of a label no. 203 and no. 574, oil on canvas, 102 x 82.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection, Germany.

Exhibited:
Akademische Kunstausstellung, Dresden, 1856;
Allgemeine Kunstausstellung, Munich, 1858;
Wiener Internationale Kunstausstellung, 1869.

Catalogued in:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, vol. I, 2, Hofheim am Taunus 1979, p. 523, no. 18.

Gustav Adolf Henning became known primarily as a portrait and historical painter. He began his artistic training at the Dresden Academy of Drawing, Painting and Architecture. Between 1822 and 1833 he went on several study trips to Italy. A few years later he was appointed professor and subsequently director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig.
His sojourns in Italy and his German origins are combined in this lot, which depicts a scene from the drama ‘The Bride of Messina or the Hostile Brothers’ by Friedrich Schiller. The play is about the princess Isabella and her three children, in which the brothers Don Manuel and Don Cesar initially know nothing of the existence of their sister Beatrice. Isabella’s mother hid her in a convent out of fear after her birth, as her husband foresaw an impending disaster caused by his daughter in a dream. The painting shows the moment in which the hunter Don Manuel and Beatrice meet for the first time.
Both brothers eventually fall in love with their sister and Don Cesar stabs his brother out of jealousy before committing suicide at the end. The action is located in Messina, Sicily, recognisable by the smoking volcano Etna in the background.