Gulf of La Spezia 1833

Carl Rottmann rendered this watercolor, Gulf of La Spezia, in Italy. The image provides us a glimpse into the romanticized views of the Italian landscape popular in early 19th-century Europe. The visual codes here place emphasis on the sublime beauty of the natural world with a castle perched atop a hill. We might think about the politics of imagery at the time, with Italy serving as both a geographical space and an idea, particularly for northern Europeans. At the time, Italy was not a unified nation, but rather a collection of city-states and kingdoms, each with its own distinct cultural and political history. Historians can consult travel journals, literature, and political writing from the period. Through careful study, we see how art is contingent on social and institutional contexts.