Trent in the Tyrol
This scene depicts a castle
in Trent. Founded in the 4th century BC, it later became a Roman colony on the road to the Brenner Pass in the
Alps. It came under the Napoleonic kingdom of Italy in the early 19th century, passing to Austria in 1814 and to Italy in
1918.
It has a very picturesque appearance,
especially when approached from the north, with its embattled walls and towers filling the valley. A conspicuous feature in
the view is the isolated rocky citadel of Doss Trento (the Roman Verruca), that rises on the right bank of the Adige
to a height of 308 ft. above the city.
The Artist: Sir Augustus
Wall Callcott
English
landscape painter Sir Augustus Wall Callcott was born in Kensington in 1779. His first study was music; and he sang for several years in the choir of Westminster Abbey. But at the age of twenty
he had determined to give up music, and had exhibited his first painting at the Royal Academy. He first studied with portrait painter John Hoppner before switching to landscape painting.
His work was reminiscent of Turner’s paintings.
He gradually rose to distinction, and was elected an associate in 1807
and an academician around 1810. In 1837 he received the honor of knighthood from the newly ascended Queen Victoria;
and served as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures from 1843 to 1844.
He was a founding member of the Council for the Government School of Design in Ornamental
Art, which opened in June 1837; Charles Eastlake was a fellow Council member. Callcott’s landscapes display refined taste and quiet beauty. His wife, Maria, was a writer
on art and travel. He died in 1844.
