Königsee with the Cliffs of St. Bartholomëe 1837

Wilhelm von Kobell created this watercolor depicting Königsee with the Cliffs of St. Bartholomëe. The composition divides the scene into three horizontal bands: the mountains, the lake, and the foreground. The dramatic, towering cliffs create a visual tension, their grey mass contrasting with the softer, pale blues of the water and sky. The scene is punctured by the forms of cows wading in the lake, their bodies reflecting in the calm water. Kobell balances a realistic rendering of the natural landscape with an idealized pastoral scene, typical of Romanticism. The structure of the painting is quite traditional, yet the interplay between the sublime natural elements and the everyday human presence, represented by the figures and livestock, introduces a dynamic tension. This tension destabilizes a simple reading of landscape as purely picturesque, suggesting instead a complex interplay between nature and culture. The formal arrangement serves to frame and mediate our view, transforming a real place into a constructed image, imbued with cultural meaning and aesthetic consideration.