(Vienna 1812-1905)
A corner at Mirabellgarten with the coat of arms of Paris Graf Lodron at Schwarzstraße, behind it Hohensalzburg fortress and the cathedral, signed and dated R. Alt Salzburg 3. Oct. (1)889, watercolour on paper, laid down on cardboard, 38 x 27 cm, mounted, framed, (Hu)

Provenance:
Private collection, Austria.

We are grateful to Dr. Maria Luise Sternath, Vienna for the scientific support.

Paris Graf von Lodron (1586-1653) was Prince Archbishop of Salzburg at the time of the Thirty Years’ war. Owing to his political skill Salzburg could maintain peace and be excluded from war. His architect Santino Solari had erected a most modern fortification system which comprised a belt of five well fortified bastions. The present watercolour shows todays „Wasserbastei“ (water bastion) with the coat of arms of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg: a lion with the so-called „Brezelschweif“ (the lion’s tail in the form of a „Brezel“) and a drinking fountain which still exists today. Behind the rampart the „Kleine Bastionsgarten“ (Small Bastion garden) is located. It exhibits the historic dwarfs of the former dwarf garden and is part of the Mirabell Garden.

For 13 years Rudolph von Alt sojourned every year in the summer months in Bad Gastein from 1886 onwards. He made excursions and fully dedicated himself to the subject landscape and nature (From: exhibition catalogue Albertina, Rudolf von Alt 1812-1905, Vienna 2005, p 298). The trees of the Mirabell garden are the dominant pictorial element in the present watercolour. Alt understood it quite well to capture a large palette of various green tones, light and shades in a delicately speckled technique. Alt’s skillfully mastered interplay of light creates a cheerful and happy mood, in which the figures blend in harmoniously. (B. Hagerty)