Goethe in the Roman Campagna [SEP] creator
Goethe in the Roman Campagna
Goethe in the Roman Campagna is a painting from 1787 by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, a German Neoclassical painter, depicting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe when the writer was travelling in Italy. Goethe's book on his travels to Italy from 1786–88, called "Italian Journey", was published in 1816–17; the book is based on his diaries. Since 1887, the painting has been in the possession of the Städel Museum in Goethe's hometown Frankfurt.
Painting.
The painting is a full-
motto of Goethe's "Italian Journey". The artists consciously chose a spiritual collaboration to produce the painting and used the Arcadian motif of the Roman Campagna.
The composition is balanced and the colours are restricted. At the time Goethe was preoccupied with his verse drama "Iphigenia in Tauris", and he recited extracts to Tischbein. He was very impressed by it and depicted the scene of Iphigenia meeting her brother in the painting, on the relief behind Goethe to his left. Also, both artist shared an interest for