(Aschach/Upper Austria 1764-1818 Vienna) An ancient scene from Roman history, signed and dated J. Abel Roma 1803, black and white chalk on ocre-coloured laid paper, laid down on cardboard, 62 x 80 cm, unmounted, unframed, (Sch)

The history painter and etcher Josef Abel belonged to those Viennese artists who had a preference for Classical subject matter and for the Italian Renaissance. He studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste under Friedrich Heinrich Füger and Franz Anton von Zauner. The best pupil of his age group he was awarded a generous grant, which enabled him to stay in Rome for six years from 1801 onwards. Before that he was invited by Prince Adam Casimir Czartoryski to Poland where he worked as a drawing teacher and tutor at the prince’s manor in 1795/96. In 1796 Abel returned to Vienna and worked as an independant painter. His friendship with Füger still connected him with the Academy. In the summer of 1801 Abel travelled to Rome via Venice and Florence and affiliated with the German Romanticists. He had an impact on the painters Johann Christian Reinhart and Jopseh Anton Koch through his studies and copies after Raffael and Michelangelo. Even Berte Thorvaldsen received challenge and inspiration through Abel. In Rome Abel connected with the Guild of Saint Luc; in 1807 he returned to Vienna and remained there until his death. On February 2, 1815 he was elected a member of the academy of Vienna.