Ferdinand Bellermann (1814–1889), Germany
Urao Lagoon, Venezuela, 1852
Oil on canvas
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Seven years after he returned to Germany, Ferdinand Bellerman completed this rendering of the Urao Lagoon. He included llamas, Andean animals not native to Venezuela, in the composition to add to the diversity of the scene. Like many traveler artists, Bellermann used conventions of the picturesque, including a dark foreground with plants and animals and a central body of water framed by mountains. In this way, he utilized a familiar aesthetic to make the landscape around Urao more attractive to European viewers.