Der «Almanach aus Rom» (1810-1811) von Friedrich Sickler und Christian Reinhart: Ein kurzlebiges Projekt

The Almanach aus Rom, edited by antiquarian Friedrich Carl Ludwig Sickler (1773–1836) and painter Johann Christian Reinhart (1761-1847), published in only two volumes between 1810 and 1811, probably owes its short life to the extremely heterogeneous nature of the essays it contains and to the fact that Sickler was the sole author of the texts. At first glance, the reference to the artistic life and archaeological treasures of Rome would seem to be the main element of cohesion between the various contributions. However, other aspects take on importance when read with the awareness that, vital to the interpretation of the magazine, are both the relations between German and Italian culture and those between a Protestant minority and the central influence of Catholicism in the city. The indignation at the Napoleonic plundering perpetrated in Italy from 1797 onwards is also clearly perceptible. The Almanach contains, among other things a) signs of the transition from classicist to romantic taste; b) profiles of illustrious artists active in Rome in the past (Raphael and Michelangelo) and in more recent times (Angelika Kaufmann); c) some reflections on the results of excavations of the period. This essay focuses not only on the contents of the almanac, but also on its structure and the comments made about it by reviewers in other German magazines.