Barges on the river Inn

Details

Provenienz:
Privatsammlung, Fürth;
Privatbesitz, Süddeutschland.

Description

During his travels on the Danube in the 1820s, Johann Adam Klein had already chosen tractor teams as the subject of his works (see “Danube Ship Train near Dürnstein”, 1827). The barges, which are called Zillen, Kehlheimer or Gamsen depending on the type, were used in the Wachau to transport cargo and people. While the ships downstream took advantage of the current and could even put up sails when the wind was favourable, upstream they had to be pulled by teams of horses. For Klein, as a horse lover, the animals’ sinewy, muscular bodies were a gripping spectacle, which he captured in numerous drawings, but also in oils. Here he shows a towing train along the river Inn, consisting of eleven horses, most of them mounted, pulling two ships lying deep in the water on long ropes on an uneven path along the riverbank. The two sailors on board are trying to keep the course with oars or poles. Klein pays particular attention to the detailed rendering of the horse harnesses and the Tyrolean traditional costumes of the horse handlers.