Adrian Zingg

After training as an engraver in his native Switzerland and working in Paris, Zingg moved in 1766 to Dresden, where he joined the faculty of the newly established Academy of Fine Arts. Combining topographical accuracy with a penchant for the picturesque, and taking inspiration from the local environment, his drawings paved the way for the Romantic landscape tradition that developed in Dresden in the nineteenth century. This large sheet depicts the Keppmühle—a charming mill that was one of the most popular excursion sites for Dresdeners at the time. The landscape is rendered in Zingg’s characteristically ornamental style, with extensive application of sepia washes and skilled use of the white of the paper, creating an enchanting impression of illumination.