(Görz 1755-1828 Vienna) The Farewell between Hector and Andromache, pen and brown ink, grey wash on laid paper, laid down on support, 50 x 74,5 cm, framed, (Sch)

Provenance: Private collection, France.

Franz Caucig was a pupil of Heinrich Friedrich Füger at the Vienna Academy; in 1779 he studied in Bologna and Rome and after a brief sojourn in Vienna he spent some time in Mantua and in Venice. From 1799 onwards he was professor and councillor; in 1820 he became director of the Vienna Academy. His oeuvre comprises altar paintings and portraits. His predilection however was directed towards ancient mythology and history which he translated into a rigid classicist vocabulary of forms.
The present drawing may have been a design for a painting which was either abandoned or was never executed. The theme “Hector and Andromeda” was also depicted by Füger in an oil painting (oil on canvas, 20,2 x 16,5 cm). Füger’s painting cannot be traced anymore (former inventory of the Belvedere Gallery 1875/76) and is only known through a black and white photograph. Contrary to Füger’s work the composition of Caucig is a horizontal format. The eventful action narrative and the dynamic interaction of the figures and the architectural setting are comparable with Füger’s multifigured mythological pictures of the 1780ies.

Compare: Robert Keil, Heinrich Friedrich Füger 1751-1818. Nur wenigen ist es vergönnt das Licht der Wahrheit zu sehen, Vienna 2009, Cat. raisonné No. 116, p. 233.