Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Jacob Alt studied oil painting, watercolor and lithography in Vienna, Austria where he built his career. Alt became well-known for his views of Rome, Venice, and the Danube River area. Between 1833 and 1848, Alt and his son, Rudolf, contributed to the series of large-scale watercolors known as Guckkastenblätter, commissioned by the Archduke Ferdinand, later Emperor Ferdinand I. These watercolors depicted the most picturesque sites of the Austrian Empire and Italy, and a number were featured in an exhibition entitled “Jakob and Rudolf von Alt. At His Majesty’s Service” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna in 2010. The watercolors by the Alts represent the peak of Austrian watercolor painting and were m...