As we’ve become more absorbed in the world of art and its history, we’ve discovered all sorts of obscure gems from the past.

The most recent was what turned out to be Carl Friedrich Seiffert’s Blue Grotto on Capri (1860). Initially, we saw it on Twitter with no mention of who the artist was. We dug around and found nothing, before eventually unearthing who it was by.

But there’s very little information about Seiffert (1809-1891) online. Other than a German Wikipedia page, there’s almost nothing.

Die Blaue Frotte auf Capri (The Blue Grotto on Capri) and Seiffert’s Other Artwork

Blue Grotto (Capri Island, Italy), by Detroit Publishing Co., ca. 1890.⁠
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One of 800+ prints available as a print from our online shop, all profits back into the project — https://t.co/vwSOccsKto pic.twitter.com/W0jUlkiUip

— The Public Domain Review (@PublicDomainRev) November 22, 2023

The Blue Grotto came to our attention thanks to the above Tweet. Now, that’s a photochrom print—a process of colourising black and white pictures (there are no details on who took the picture, other than it being from Detroit Publishing Co. circa 1890).

Used so extensively above, it looks all the world like a painting.

We went looking for more pictures of this grotto and its brilliant emerald blue light. Turns out it’s quite the legendary Italian destination.

In modern times the grotto was “discovered” (more on that further below in our addendum) by German writer August Kopisch (1799-1853) in 1826.

The grotto is located on the island of Capri, Italy. Kopisch was a Romantic poet (and we think we know it) who wrote in Discovery of the Blue Grotto on the Island of Capri (1838):

“It was in the summer of 1826 when I landed with my friend Ernst Fries in the beautiful bay, on the northern navy of Capri. The sun was leaning towards distant Ischia when we jumped down into the rattling shore gravel. Capri was the first island I set foot on, and never will I forget the impression. One of my dearest wishes came true. I could now hear the sea roaring around all those wonderfully shaped rocks that had already captivated my mind magically from Naples. Each crashing row of waves sang to me: I am separated from the mainland, on a cliff where a simple people of fishermen and gardeners live, and the hoofbeat of horses and the roll of carts are unknown. With its rocks and caves, and hanging gardens and ancient ruins, and new cities and rocky staircases, the island had already appeared to me from afar as a special world, filled with wonders and surrounded by horrible and lovely legends, and now that my time was not closely limited, I could hope to be able to explore this world in detail in all its boundaries. This thought made me indescribably happy.”

Kopisch’s enthusiasm led others out to discover the grotto and its delights.

Carl Friedrich Seiffert was one of them. After he went out there he was clearly impressed, as there are five versions of the painting that have been discovered.

The 1860 date often added to the artwork is guesswork. We don’t know when it was painted, but it was circa 1840-1860.

Seiffert’s work is 40 x 65cm and is an oil on canvas.

Other versions aren’t quite as distinct and eye-catching. It’s even debated whether the five versions are all by Seiffert.

As magnificent in detail as it is, the man behind it is shrouded in mystery. There is this portrait (painted by Anton Weber) of Seiffert that dates to 1858.

Born in Neustadt, Saxony in Switzerland, there’s a small amount of knowledge about his formative education. He studied at Dresden Academy and then Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1858-1861.

He also lived in Rome between 1868 and 1871, before becoming a professor at Dresden Art Academy from 1873.

Officially for his career he was an etcher and engraver. This is one of Seiffert’s etchings, depicting Saint Sebastian (circa 1855).

There’s a small selection of Seiffert’s etchings online, plus some landscape paintings he worked on. Here’s one of them from.

And here’s another, which is more based around an etching style. This one is possibly called Boats on Lake Lucerne and is a watercolour on paper.

We’re not sure if these paintings even have a name as we can’t find them listed online, but there’s a brief description where we found them.

Pretty magnificent though, non? A shame the artist doesn’t get more recognition.

The Blue Grotto on Capri as a Tourist Destination

The Blue Grotto is now a popular tourist attraction (one you have to duck to get into, whilst fending off other tourists).

On the island of Capri, you can find the cave at this bit (where the red marker is on the top left).

The cave is only 60 metres long and 25 metres wide. The entrance to get into it is two metres, showing that August Kopisch had considerable derring-do to get into the thing.

However, Kopisch rediscovered the grotto.

Knowledge of its existence dates back to Roman times as it was used as a personal swimming area for Emperor Tiberius (42 BC-AD 37). During this time the Emperor had the grotto decorated with statues and resting areas.

Apparently, the grotto was unknown for some time after its Roman glory days.

But Kopisch stumbled across it in 1826 with his friend Ernst Fries (a German painter) and the former than wrote Entdeckung der blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri (Discovery of the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri).

His work prompted a flurry of artistic activity. Here’s another painting, this one by German painter Jakob Alt (1789-1872).

This grotto clearly caught the attention of the world back in the early 19th century. But of all the artwork we’ve seen of it, we still think Carl Friedrich Seiffert’s piece is the best.

According to reports, at the back of the grotto are three passageways that lead to cave at the back. In this area, visitors over hundreds of years have scrawled their signatures.

These days, it’s very much a tourist trap and receives thousands of visitors a year. We had a look at some of the reviews left on Google.

Here’s a 1/5 review of the experience from August 2023:

“Waited an hour for a 3 minute tour which wasn’t all that amazing. It’s a cave and it let’s light in through the bottom so it lights up from below. There’s way better stuff to see in Amalfi. Also it was 18 euro per person and the boat guy demanded 10-20 euro tip. Very off putting.”

Blasted boat guy! Blasted cave with its boring letting light in through the bottom!

Despite that individual’s raging fury at the experience, we’re sure if you can get the Blue Grotto at a quieter moment it’d be well worth a visit.