Officer of the 2nd Royal Bavarian heavy cavalry regiment greeting

Details

Provenienz:
Privatbesitz, Süddeutschland.

Description

In 1815 and 1816, after his return from Vienna, Johann Adam Klein had documented the troops of the anti-Napoleonic coalition passing through the area around Nuremberg. Klein had become a successful specialist in this genre in Vienna during the Congress period and inspired his childhood friend Johann Christoph Erhard to create a series of similar military scenes. It was above all the colourful uniforms that fascinated Klein and which he observed so closely that his depictions can also be used as a source of military history. In our watercolour, too, the troops are closely observed, which is why one might be tempted to regard the sheet, which was painted as late as 1848, as a kind of “remake” if it weren’t for its contemporary historical background: As a result of the February Revolution in France, Munich was also shaken by revolutionary unrest in March 1848 – crop failures in the previous year, which led to high food prices, along with falling wages and not least the Lola Montez affair, had inflamed the public sentiment to such an extent that on 3 March thousands of citizens signed a petition in the town hall demanding reforms and liberties, and the following day stormed the armoury. The situation quickly calmed when King Ludwig I issued the March Proclamation on 6 March and finally abdicated on 20 March, but the presence of the military was omnipresent in Munich and the surrounding area that spring. This work probably depicts members of the 1st or 2nd Bavarian Cuirassier Regiment – an officer on horseback is in conversation with a fellow officer wrapped in a warming cloak. It is possible that this is a morning changing of the guard in the field, during which the cuirassiers standing guard are relieved by a fresh squad. Dr. Peter Prange – Paper slightly yellowed, otherwise in good condition.