Piazza d’Erbe in Verona

Painted in 1884 and held in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 'Piazza d'Erbe in Verona' reflects Menzel's several journeys to Italy, where he responded to Italian cities and their populations with the same observational intensity he brought to Berlin, Paris, and Vienna. The Piazza d'Erbe in Verona is one of Italy's most active and picturesque market squares, and its combination of architecture, commerce, and social activity offered Menzel precisely the kind of complex scene he relished. By 1884 he was in his sixties, with his reputation fully established, and his Italian subjects show the confidence of an artist who could approach any scene without anxiety about procedure. The Dresden collection holds this work alongside other examples of German Realism. The Dresden collection's holding of this Italian market subject places it alongside works that document the range of Menzel's travel observations beyond the Prussian subjects for which he is best known.

Menzel renders the Italian market square with his characteristic ability to combine architectural precision with the animated movement of a populated urban space. Southern light produces stronger contrasts than his north German subjects — warmer, with deeper shadows and brighter highlights.