Working in the beginning years of German Romanticism, Franz Kobell (1749-1822) is best known for his brush and ink landscapes. Before settling in Munich in 1793, he lived in Rome from 1779 to 1784, adding Italian to Dutch influences in his work. As an admirer of Claude Lorrain (1600-1682) he preferred to work from nature, completing his pieces in the studio. Although there are a few paintings by him known, Kobell found that his painting technique was too slow to keep pace with his ideas, preferring drawing, creating thousands of landscape and architectural drawings as well as etchings. Although lesser known than his older brother Ferdinand and nephew Wilhelm, Franz Kobell enjoyed a prosperous career in Munich, producing several noted views of the wooded mountains of Bavaria.

The poet Goethe, an early admirer and collector of Franz Kobell, wrote: "I know...his drawings, which he executes in a style all of his own, with great speed and in extraordinary numbers. They show that he has understood and felt nature with a highly trained eye."