Fontana Blandusia, volgarmente detta Acquoria a Tivoli
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 28.4 x 37.7 cm (11 3/16 x 14 13/16 in.) sheet: 39.2 x 49.2 cm (15 7/16 x 19 3/8 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
New Century Fund
Accession Number
2003.86.62
Art Historical Context
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau's *Fontana Blandusia,garmente detta Acquoria Tivoli* (1794) is a etching that transports viewers to the lush landscapes of Tivoli, just outside Rome. This German artist, active during the late Enlightenment, specialized in detailed views of Italian scenery, drawing from his travels through classical sites. The title honors the Fountain of Blandusia—famously praised in Horace's ancient *Odes* for its refreshing waters—locally known as Acquoria, evoking Rome's enduring poetic and natural heritage. Created amid the Grand Tour era, when Northern Europeans flocked to Italy for...
About the Artist
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau · 1745–1808
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau (1745–1808) was a German painter and draughtsman who became one of the more distinctive landscape artists working in Rome during the late eighteenth century. Born in Dresden in 1745, Mechau received his early artistic education in the rich environment of that city's court culture, which placed a high premium on classical training and technical refinement. He later made his way...