(Basle 1813–1865 Frascati)
View of Tivoli, signed J. J. Frey, oil on canvas, 100 x 137 cm, framed, (Rei)

This magnificent view depicts the hill town of Tivoli and its famous waterfall. Located only 32 kilometres east of Rome, Tivoli was a popular retreat for wealthy Romans escaping the summer heat. It was also a favourite subject among artists, attracted by the town’s spectacular falls and magnificent views over the surrounding campagna. The present picture is a mature work by Frey and a fine example of the more luminous and colourful style he adopted after his trip to Egypt in 1842. Johann Jakob Frey studied initially under his father and then with the Swiss history painter, Hieronymus Hess, before moving to Paris, where he copied Dutch landscapes of the seventeenth-century. In 1834 he settled in Munich, and there, thanks to the connections of his teacher Hess, he entered the artistic circle of Emilie Lindner, the Basle benefactor and patron of young artists in Munich. Her financial support and strong ties with the colony of German artists in Rome enabled Frey to move there permanently in 1835. From 1842 to 1845 he took part in the Royal Prussian expedition to Egypt, where he was the official landscape and architectural painter.

from a Bavarian private collection