JEAN-FRANÇOIS ALBANIS BEAUMONT (1753-1812)
The Brenner Pass (1,372m - 4,501ft)
Austria - Italy border
In Montagne de Brenner, 1797, drawing from Picturesque travel to the Pennine Alps
The mountain
The Brenner pass (1,372m - 4,501ft) is an Alpine pass separating Italy (the municipality of Brennero in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano) from Austria (Gries in Tyrol). The Brenner pass connects the Stubai Alps to the west to the Zillertal Alps to the east, between the peaks of Sattelberg (2,115m - 6,939ft) and Wolfendorn (2,776m - 9,107ft). It separates the southern and northern parts of the Wipptal, a valley formed by Isarco to the south and Sill to the north, extending from Fortezza to Innsbruck. The pass marks the Italian-Austrian border and the watershed between the drainage basin of the Adriatic Sea (Adige) and the Black Sea (Inn and Danube). It is the lowest and most frequented passage between the north and the south of the main ridge of the Alps and the only one that a large transit railway crosses in the open sky. It is also crossed by the Brenner motorway leading from Modena to Innsbruck, part of the European Route 45.
The construction of the motorway began in 1957. On this occasion was built the Europabrücke, which was until 1974 the highest bridge in Europe with 190 m (623 ft)high.
The painter
Sir Jean-François Albanis Beaumont, draughtsman, aquatint engraver, and landscape painter, was born in Chambery in 1753, but naturalized in England. He studied classics in Chambéry and when he was 17 years old went to Paris. He studied 4 years at the Royal College of Engineering of Mézières and received several commissions in the Bourbonnais.
Returning in 1775 to Chambéry, he designed the decorations for the celebrations of the marriage of Clotilde de France and Prince Charles-Emmanuel. Engineer Filippo Nicolis di Robilant encouraged him to work for king Victor Amadeus III, who placed him with the chief engineer of the county of Nice, where he took part in the important works underway in Port Lympia. He was inscribed on April 30, 1780, in the class of civil architects of the University of Turin.
He accompanied the Duke of Gloucester, William Frederick of Hanover in his Grand Tour (Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland), who subsequently entrusted him with the education of his children. He then settled in Britain and married an Englishwoman of Protestant religion.
In 1787 he began to publish his first works illustrated with his own drawings "Picturesque travel to the Pennine Alps", "Historical and picturesque journey of the County of Nice", "Journey through the Rhaetian Alps in 1786", "Selected views of antiquities And ports in the south of France "and" Travel through the Maritime Alps".
In 1796, his mission was completed and he could return to Savoie and settle near Genevawhere in 1798 he bought a small agricultural estate on the commune of Thônex with which he planned to enter the trade of wool. He does not find the success expected and must soon resell everything and resume his work as geographer and traveler.
In 1800, he published "Journey in the Alps Lepontine from France to Italy" and then "Description of the Greek and CoteAlps" (1802 and 1806).
In 1810, he died at the monastery of Sixt of which he became the owner. He had resumed the exploitation of the iron mines, but he faced too many difficulties. He is buried on the spot.
The views of the towns and landscapes he drew are very sought after and give an idea of the appearance of these places at the time.
