Auction 126 / Lot 1617

Monogrammed and dated on the base on the left 'FK (in ligature) 1884.'. Frame. The presented painting served as a model for the illustrations in the novel 'Uarda' (1886) by the Egyptologist Georg Ebers, which deals with the life and adventures of the ancient Egyptians. Ferdinand Keller chose for his depiction the moment when the high priest on the threshold of the temple gate denies entry to the daughter of Pharaoh Ramses II. From the mid-1870s onwards, Ferdinand Keller illustrated various splendid editions in collaboration with other artists for the Stuttgart publishing house Hallberger. The illustrations for Ebers' publication demonstrate how dynamically and truthfully Keller was able to depict the content of the texts with his pen and why his contemporaries often compared him to the Viennese artist Makart. What earned Ferdinand Keller fame during his lifetime was first and foremost his well-disciplined skill, equipped for all the demands of painting. He is one of the last historical painters of the great academic style, who mastered monumental wall frescoes just as well as small-format illustrations or theatre decorations. Literature: F.W. Gaertner, 1912, p. 46, Fig. 32; Michael Koch. Ferdinand Keller Life and Work. Provenance: South German private collection.