Wilhelm Frey (1826-1911) - Ingresso a Gerusalemme

"The Entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem", a work by the German painter and engraver Wilhelm Frey (1826 – 1911). The traditional gospel scene of Christ’s messianic entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, surrounded by the crowd waving olive branches and palm branches. The work bears at the bottom the artist’s autograph signature and the explicit dating 1860. It is a small drawing on paper (paper size about 22 x 16 cm).

Wilhelm Friedrich Frey (Karlsruhe, June 24, 1826 – Mannheim, February 4, 1911) was a figure who was deeply eclectic and original in the 19th-century German cultural landscape. His life was firmly divided between two great passions: painting and lyrical singing. He showed an early talent for drawing and began studying at a very young age under the guidance of the historical painter Karl Koopmann. Between 1845 and 1852 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. There he became an important exponent of the Münchner Schule (Munich School), a current oriented toward Naturalism and the realistic representation of subjects. Initially he collaborated with the landscape painter Heinrich Heinlein, incorporating human figures and the staffage into his Alpine landscapes. Later he established himself mainly as an animal painter and painter of pastoral scenes. In his final creative phases he felt the influence of Impressionism.