Peter Friedrich de Walpergen (1730-1809)

Two views of Heidelberg :
Old bridge (Alte Brücke) over Neckar river Arc de triomphe (Carls Thor) of Elector Karl Theodor

 

Circa 1760

Ink, watercolor and gouache Signed lower left

33 x 42 cm

 

There is very little biographical information on Peter Friedrich de Walpergen. According to the entry in the register of the Protestant Reformed Church, he was born on 15 January 1730 in Heidelberg. His official profession was land surveyor. The Heidelberg town contract register records the sale of the house on the corner of Hauptstrasse and Kisselgasse on 12 March 1767, on behalf of ‘Friedrich de Walpergen, born deaf and dumb’. Here is all the written evidence found so far on the person and profession of Peter Friedrich de Walpergen.

 

His large watercolors and pen-and-ink drawings (published in Sigrid Wechssler: Peter Friedrich de Walpergen. Schloß und Stadt Heidelberg. 25 Aquarelle und Zeichnungen (1752-1804) aus den Beständen des Kurpfälzischen Museums der Stadt Heidelberg. Guderjahn, Heidelberg 1987) are invaluable for the topography of 18th century Heidelberg. With admirable precision, Peter Friedrich de Walpergen provides us with several detailed overviews. These drawings are indebted to contemporary veduta, but they do not just show the architecture of the place: the draughtsman depicts realistic, active characters.

 

Each of Walpergen’s drawings features a self-portrait of the artist: he depicts himself from the back, drawing in the foreground of his compositions, sometimes with a compass rose for orientation and a dog as a companion.

 

Walpergen was not only interested in the architecture of Heidelberg, but also in its entomological heritage: the flora, butterflies and insects of the region are captured in beautiful watercolors that he collected in two sketchbooks (Sigrid Wechssler: Blumen und Schmetterlinge. Studien nach der Natur von Peter Friedrich de Walpergen. Guderjahn, Heidelberg 1992). These, like the views of the town, are all preserved in Heidelberg’s Palatinate Museum.

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