Leipsic.

Title

Leipsic.

Description

Very nice general view of the city of Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony.

c. 1814

Artist

Bowyer (1758-1834)

Robert Bowyer (1758 Portsmouth - 1834 Byfleet). English watercolor and miniature painter and publisher. Probably a pupil of the miniature painter John Smart. Exhibited first works at the Society of Artists in 1782 and at the Royal Academy in 1783. In 1789 he was appointed miniature painter to Queen Sophie Charlotte. In the 1790s he began to publish his own prints.

Historical Description

The history of Leipzig was shaped by its importance as a trading center. Thanks to its favorable location at the intersection of trade routes and trade fair privileges, it already held an outstanding position in the trade in goods, and later also in the printing and book trade. Leipzig was never a royal seat or a bishopric and was always characterized by urban bourgeoisie. The University of Leipzig, founded in 1409, is one of the oldest universities in what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. Leipzig acquired the nickname "Little Paris" when the progressive trade fair city was equipped with street lighting in 1701 and from then on could be compared with the glamorous Seine metropolis. At the beginning of the 18th century, Georg Philipp Telemann studied in Leipzig and founded the Collegium musicum here. From 1723 until his death in 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach was employed by the city council as Thomaskantor and “Director musices” (head of all church music in the city). This is where u. a. the St. John Passion, the St. Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio, the B minor Mass and the art of the fugue. In 1729 Bach took over the management of the Collegium Musicum, which until 1741 performed numerous of his secular cantatas and instrumental compositions in Zimmermann's coffee house.