Twee landschappen met torenspits 1722 - 1780

Christian Ludwig von Hagedorn created these two landscapes with steeple around the mid-18th century. Von Hagedorn was Director-General of the Elector of Saxony's art collections, a position of considerable cultural power. The landscapes betray the influence of this context. They seem like idealised visions of a cultivated land. The cultural elite of the 18th century frequently saw landscape in terms of its aesthetic possibilities, not just in terms of its economic or social role. We see evidence of this in the picturesque arrangements of trees and hills. The church at the centre of each vista symbolizes not just religious faith but social harmony. To understand this work better, we could research the development of landscape painting during the period, or study the social and economic history of Saxony at the time. Art historians play an important role in connecting art with social and institutional contexts.