Roman antiquity and Venetian moonlight

As a young man, the painter Friedrich Nerly (1807-1878) traveled to Italy, as did many Romantic painters. From 1828 onwards, Nerly lived in Rome and traveled as far as Naples and Sicily to produce numerous watercolors and drawings of nature, ancient ruins, and their interplay in the oppressive heat of the south. These served as the basis for his paintings, one of which stands out in particular in the exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen: the oil painting Countryside Landscape with Aqua Claudia (1836, see above) is on public display for the first time in almost 200 years. It has been in the Kunsthalle's possession since 1954, but could not be exhibited due to its poor condition. After approximately one year of restoration, it is now the centerpiece of the exhibition Italian Landscape and Ancient Ruins. The Romantic Painter Friedrich Nerly in Rome. The motif of Nerly's painting was new and spectacular in the 1830s and inspired painters such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, and Carl Spitzweg to create similar works. The exhibition runs from March 14 to July 5 in Bremen.

Nerly achieved another successful pictorial invention in Venice, where he lived from 1835 until his death: Venice by moonlight was an extremely popular motif in one of the world's first tourist cities. Nerly's studio in the centrally located Palazzo Pisani became a destination for many travelers, and he was considered the most successful foreign painter in the city. Venice offered him inexhaustible inspiration with its architecture, gondolas, and sailing ships. In the exhibition Nerly in Venice: Gondolas and Palaces at the Kunsthalle Bremen, 50 drawings by Nerly offer visitors the opportunity to learn about his working methods. In addition, two iconic paintings are on display in the exhibition, which can be seen in the Kupferstichkabinett: The Column of St. Mark in Venice by Moonlight (around 1837) and Canale Grande with a View of Santa Maria della Salute (1838/39). This exhibition can also be seen from March 14 to July 5.