1840 Arler [Swiss School] fine aquatint with orig hand colour GRIMSEL PASS

Leaf 19 x 15.5 cm

Fine hand coloured aquatint ca 1840

Fine delicate hand colour typical for the Biedermeier period.

The Grimsel Pass is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of 2,164 metres (7,100 ft). The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with the upper valley of the Rhône. In so doing, and as the Aare is a tributary of the Rhine, the pass crosses the continental divide between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Grimsel Pass formed, along with the Nufenen and Gries passes, a regional trade route between the Haslital and Domodossola and the Lombardy plain. Cheese and cattle were sent south, whilst wine, rice, corn and olive oil came north. This trade continued until the opening of the Gotthard railway in 1882.