Midnight Fires on the Alps

Julius Köckert (1827-1918) was born in Leipzig. He studied in Coblenz and in Cologne before moving to Prague in 1843. He was in Bavaria in 1848 and settled in Munich in 1850. He was best known for painting Alpine scenes such as this one and especially well-known for a work entitled 'Hochzeitsfahrt auf dem Chiemsee', which he painted frequently.

This painting is a fine example of Köckert's Alpine scenes. It shows a group of people in traditional costumes playing instruments and listening to the music around a fire at night. Such subject matter commemorating the contemporary rustic life was particularly praised in Germany during the second half of the 19th century. It draws in part from the 17th-century Dutch imagery but was also influenced by the Biedermeier aesthetic.