S. Maria del Fiore in Florenz 13 - 1828

Editor: We’re looking at "S. Maria del Fiore in Florenz," a cityscape drawing from 1828 by Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer, housed in the Städel Museum. It’s a delicate sketch, mostly pencil on paper. The Duomo looks almost like a dream, shimmering there. What jumps out at you? Curator: That's a perfect description: shimmering and dreamlike! It's not just a representation of the Duomo, is it? It feels like a whisper of a memory, captured in line and shadow. Hessemer wasn't just documenting; he was feeling Florence, letting its spirit flow through his hand onto the page. The very light touch suggests he was using it to refine ideas, or simply to meditate. Does it put you in mind of a similar space, real or imagined? Editor: I see what you mean. It's interesting that it's in the Städel Museum. The landscape isn't traditionally German. I’m curious as to why Hessemer was even in Florence. Curator: Well, remember the Romantics were all about the lure of the south! Italy was a pilgrimage, and Florence, with its explosion of the Renaissance, was like Mecca for an architect. The city provided both ancient foundations and living testaments of architectural form, serving as the most exciting laboratory for creative synthesis. Do you think that tension comes through at all, the past whispering to the future? Editor: I do, particularly when viewing it knowing the purpose was experimentation and refinement! The way he uses pencil gives it an unfinished yet resolved appearance. Curator: Exactly! That tension, the "unfinished yet resolved," you put it perfectly. It's an echo of Florence then and now. And a little bit of Hessemer himself. Thanks, I learned something today! Editor: Me too. Seeing the city through Hessemer's eyes definitely makes me want to book a ticket to Italy!