1894

Oil Painting «Battle at Aquasana»

St. Moritz, around 1800

In 1831 the Hitz family left Davos to emigrate to America. Their son Johann (1828‒1908), who called himself John later on, achieved considerable success in his new home country: He became the Swiss consul general in Washington.

Still, Hitz always kept in touch with his contacts in Graubünden. One of them was the St. Moritz hotelier Johannes Badrutt who had given Hitz this painting. When he later offered it to the Museum, he himself wrote that it was «not exactly of high artistic value». The museum nevertheless gladly accepted it, since it depicts an historic event, the Battle at Aquasana in 1622, albeit in the historicizing style of the 19th century.