The Wetterhorn

The monumental painting with the view through Reichenbachtal of the majestic mountain massif, consisting of the Rosenhorn, the Wellhörner and the Wetterhorn summits, is widely regarded as the masterpiece in the oeuvre of Schirmer, who one year later was appointed first Professor of Landscape Paintings at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The composition of the portrayal with its realistic details suggests an exact reproduction of nature. A comparison with the landscape sketches prepared on his travels in Switzerland (he prepared the painting on the basis of them in his studio from November 1837 onwards) show that he rephrased naturalist elements to form an idealized composition. Like his role model Joseph Anton Koch before him, who had depicted the Wetterhorn from the east in 1824, Schirmer also pointed up the sublime character of original nature by emphasizing and exaggerating the three dimensional properties of the cleft rocky massif. The painting served his students as an Object of study and countless artists emulated it. The engraving prepared of it in 1838 ensured it an even greater reach. (Nicole Roth)