Lucerne

A companion piece to the Luzern mit Pilatus, this canvas titled simply 'Lucerne' likely presents the city from a different angle or with greater focus on its famous medieval bridges and lakeside promenades. Lucerne was among the most obligatory stops on the nineteenth-century grand tour of Switzerland, and Sattler's multiple views of the city responded to this sustained demand from European and American tourists who wanted visual mementos of places they had visited or wished to visit vicariously through his cosmorama exhibitions.

The composition emphasizes Lucerne's lakeside character rather than the Alpine backdrop that dominates the Pilatus view, the reflections in the Reuss River or the Vierwaldstättersee providing the primary atmospheric interest. Sattler's treatment of still water reflection was a technical skill he deployed across his European topographic views.