Liebespaar mit Hund vor einer zerklüfteten Felswand an einem Gewässer 

Franz Kobell created this etching of a couple with a dog before a rocky cliff and body of water, likely in Germany, sometime around the late 18th century. It's a Romantic vision of the natural world, but what does it tell us about the social world? Kobell, who would become the court painter for the Elector of Bavaria, here presents a kind of leisure scene popular with the aristocracy of the time. You can see how the couple is placed within a sublime landscape designed to evoke feelings of awe and perhaps even a little terror. This aesthetic was fashionable among those who had the luxury of contemplating nature from a safe distance. It also speaks to the rising merchant classes, eager to imitate aristocratic tastes and culture. Art historians often consult letters, diaries, estate inventories, and even fashion plates to fully understand the context of a work like this. Only then can we begin to appreciate what it meant to those who commissioned, created, and consumed it.