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Vue de Belgrad la ruine du Prince Eugene
Goebel, Karl, born 1824 - died 1889 - Enlarge image
Vue de Belgrad la ruine du Prince Eugene; The ruined gateway of Prince Eugene, Belgrade
- Object:
Watercolour
- Place of origin:
Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro (painted)
- Date:
ca. 1865 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Goebel, Karl, born 1824 - died 1889 (painter (artist))
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour over pencil, with gum and heightened with white
- Credit Line:
Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A
- Museum number:
SD.429
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D, case 89, shelf SCX, box 1
Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, was under Ottoman rule until the early nineteenth century, and a Turkish garrison remained in the fortress until 1867. The watercolour illustrated here shows a street in which different ethnic types are represented. The Christian Serbs include two women in traditional Serb costume with their elaborate headdresses, a youth, and a man wearing a brown cloak and fur hat. Among the Muslim Turks are two men conversing, possibly Ottoman officials; some women in their usual outdoor dress with yashmaks covering their heads, making purchases from a street vendor; and an old man, seated with crossed legs, watching life go by. In the background looms the gaunt ruin of the Gate of Prince Eugene of Savoy, part of the Small Kalemegdan or fortress of Belgrade. The Gate was built in 1717 to commemorate the Austrian victory over the Turks that year.
Goebel was an Austrian watercolourist and lithographer who specialised in landscapes and scenes of local life. He travelled widely, visiting Belgrade in the 1860s.
