A Mediterranean landscape with ruins, agaves and a sweeping view of a mountain range. The landscape could be in Sicily, possibly near Taormina, an area that Castell has already depicted in other paintings.

Oil on canvas with slight craquelure. Signed and dated in the centre right. Verso marked with gallery label. Wood frame with gold patina. Image size: 58 x 86 cm, frame: 72.5 x 102.5 x 7 cm

Johann Anton Castell (1810–1867) was a German landscape painter whose works mainly depicted motifs from his homeland. He attended the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1827 to 1828, but was forced to leave after just one year. From 1829, he studied landscape painting under Johann Christian Clausen Dahl, a Norwegian Romantic painter and friend of Caspar David Friedrich. Dahl shaped Castells' eye for a true-to-life representation of landscapes. His travels took him to Salzburg, Vienna, the Salzkammergut, Tyrol and Bohemia, among other places, where he expanded his artistic inspiration.