Courthouse Portal, Rothenburgh 

Adeline Illingworth made this etching of a courthouse portal in Rothenburgh at the turn of the twentieth century. The image presents a clear example of picturesque aesthetic, where the beauty lies in the antiquated, the textural, and the slightly decayed. Illingworth was an American artist, who studied in Paris and exhibited widely at home, so her image of this German scene speaks to a vogue for historical European settings among American artists and audiences. The late nineteenth century saw industrialization and urbanization transform both Europe and the United States, so we might read this image as participating in a nostalgic longing for a pre-industrial past. The solid stonework, the elaborate carving, and the aged surfaces, are all elements that would have appealed to this sentiment. To understand this image more fully, we would need to know more about the culture of travel, collecting, and the art market, at this moment in time. Only then can we understand the full role of such an artwork.