Outstanding study (gouache on parchment) for a late altarpiece, painted by famous Austrian Nazarene artist Carl von Blaas the Elder (1815-1894). Baron Carl von Blaas , father of the famous genre painter Eugen von Blaas, was a very important figure of the Austrian art history. He was a student of the Venice Academy between 1832 and 1837, travelled to Rome on a five-year-grant and there came into contact with the leading member of the Nazarenes, the German artist Overbeck and his circle. He also studied in Munich for two years and then painted comission works for churches in Paris, London, Italy, Hungary, Russia etc. From 1851 he stayed in Vienna and from 1856-1866 was a Professor of the Venice Academy. Von Blaas shared the Nazarene´s fascination with Renaissance artists and identified with their religious mission of art.

Literature: Thieme/Becker "Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler.." ; Prof.H.Fuchs, Lexicon of austrian artists, Vienna, 1975; Saur, AKL (Genaral Artist Lexicon) .

Inscription: signed and dated 1854 under image lower right.

Technique: gouache on parchment . Matted and framed in original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 18 5/8" x h 16" (32 x 41 cm), framed w 20 1/2" x h 25 1/4" (52 x 64 cm)

Condition: in very good condition