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Eduard Hildebrandt (1818–1869), Germany
Sunset over Pedra da Gávea, Rio de Janeiro
, ca. 1860
Oil on canvas
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

This scene was constructed years after the artist’s voyage, reconstructed from memory and sketches made on site. Hildebrandt, traveling under the patronage of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, produced scenes of Brazil for a German audience. At the time of his voyage, Hildebrandt believed nature should be depicted with scientific accuracy, following a mandate by Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. Sunset over Pedra de Gávea, however, betrays his Romanticism.

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