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SAMUEL RÖSEL (1768 or 69 Breslau - 1843 Potsdam)
Löbichau d. 31.Aug. 8.
(Löbichau on August 31th
[180]8)
The drawing depicts the Castle Löbichau in Thuringia in the
year 1808 with a young man and two girls.
Dark grey ink, 242 x 339 mm on woven paper with watermark:
standing lion with crown and saber
In addition to his work as a landscape draughtsman, Rösel
played an important role in German art history as Frederick
William IV's art teacher.
Duchess Dorothea of Courtland ordered the Castle Löbichau to
be remodelled in the neoclassical style. In its vicinity the
Castle Tannenwald was erected. Both buildings were part of
an English landscape garden. Together, they made up the "Musenhof
Löbichau" (Löbichau court of muses). Its purpose was to
bring together people of political and cultural significance
and enable them to exchange ideas.
Amongst others, Goethe and Schiller, Frederick William III
of Russia, Napoleon, Alexander I (tsar of Russia) as well as
the foreign minister of France Charles-Maurice de
Talleyrand-Périgord, visited Löbichau.
In 1808, when our drawing was conceived, the tsar visited
the castle to instigate the foreign minister's nephew's
marriage with Dorothea von Sagan, one of the four daughters
of the duchess. His endeavor proved successful and the
marriage took place in 1809. After 1809 the mother and
daughter mostly lived in Paris. The marriage didn't last
long, but Dorothea remained in France, aiding the foreign
minister. Once the latter passed away, Dorothea inherited
most of his wealth.
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