Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz, Courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence – c.1829 watercolour painting

Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz Courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

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An original c.1829 watercolour painting – Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz, Courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

An exquisite watercolour by the Swiss artist Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz (1783–1855).

Depicted is the first inner courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio (or 'Old Palace') in Florence. The Palazzo Vecchio was in the 16th century the official seat of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici.

Moritz's remarkably detailed drawing captures the magnificent decoration of the courtyard commissioned by the Duke, who was a lavish patron of the arts, to which the collections of the Uffizi gallery and Palazzo Pitti in Florence testify. Under Duke Cosimo, gilt stucco was added to the courtyard's previously smooth pillars, and magnificent wall frescoes were painted in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari for the wedding celebration of the Duke's eldest son, Francesco I de' Medici. The frescoes depict cities of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, representing the marriage of Francesco to Archduchess Johanna of Austria, sister of the Emperor Maximilian II.

In the centre of the courtyard can be seen Andrea del Verrocchio's statue, Putto with Dolphin, which formed part of the central fountain; in the mid-20th century the bronze was brought inside the palace and replaced by a replica.

Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz specialised in highly detailed topographical views of Switzerland and Italy in the early decades of the 19th century. He lived in Florence around 1830.

On cream wove paper, tipped on to backing paper.

Provenance: from a 19th-century album of exceptional quality, which included a small group of watercolours by Moritz, one of which was signed and dated 1829.

Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz (1783–1855)

Friedrich Wilhelm Moritz (1783–1855) was born at Herborn in Switzerland. He was a watercolourist and drawing master, specialising in highly detailed topographical views of Switzerland and Italy.

His work in the early 19th century was part of the burgeoning fashion for illustrated travel annuals, recreating popular Grand Tour landscapes and cultural landmarks for dissemination in print: bringing to life buildings and places with an immersive attention to detail. The inclusion of small staffage figures—bystanders, onlookers and local people going about their daily life–gives a sense of the grand scale of the landscape or site.

Moritz's work in particular helped shape the idealised vision of Switzerland in the 19th century European imagination. In Britain similar material could be found in Thomas Roscoe's 'The Tourist in Switzerland and Italy', first published in 1830, with illustrated plates after drawings by Samuel Prout. In Switzerland the production of topographical images went on to be strongly associated with the publishing company of Rudolf Dikenmann (1793–1884) and his son Johann Rudolf Dikenmann (1832–1888), who became prolific printers of aquatints of Swiss views in the mid- to late 19th century.

Moritz settled at Neuchâtel and is especially associated with that town. His son, William Morritz (1816–1860), also became a landscape artist.