The Aqueducts at Caserta

About the Artwork

Such highly finished drawings by Hackert, younger brother of Jakob Philipp Hackert (who painted Waterfall of Marmore at Terni), are extremely rare. The Hackert brothers were among the first Romantic artists to adopt the practice of drawing and painting en plein air in Rome. Italians were amazed when they saw the artists roaming the countryside with large portfolios, executing finished outline drawings entirely from nature. This drawing accurately represents an aqueduct built in the middle of the 18th century in southern Italy. The degree of finish, meticulous detail of the vegetation and rocks in the foreground, recession of space, and subtle treatment of light are astonishing.

Inscriptions

lower center, in gray watercolor: "Les Aqueducs de Caserta peint d'apres Nature par Carl Hakert 1789"

Exhibition history

Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).

Quick Overview

Artist: Carl Ludwig Hackert (German, 1740–1796)
Date: 1789
Medium: gouache with graphite underdrawing
Dimensions: Matted: 49.4 x 69.8 cm (19 7/16 x 27 1/2 in.); Sheet: 42.3 x 64 cm (16 5/8 x 25 3/16 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, acquired in honor of Alfred M. Rankin Jr. in recognition of his service as President of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Museum of Art (2006-2011)
Accession no.: 2011.116

Provenance

by 1796-1807: Jacob Philipp Hackert 1807-?: Estate of Jacob Philipp Hackert around 1960: (Venator, Cologne) after 1960s-?: Private collection, Germany ?-2011: (C.G. Boerner, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.